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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 
BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



BULLETIN, 1918, No. 17 



HISTORY GF PUBLIC SCHOOL 
EDUCATION IN ARIZONA 



By STEPHEN B. WEEKS 

BUREAU OF EDUCATION 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OmCE 

1918 





Rnok --.W4 



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

BUREAU OF EDUCATION 



BULLETIN, 1918, No. 17 _fl ^ 



HISTORY OF PUBLIC SCHOOL 
EDUCATION IN ARIZONA 



By STEPHEN B. WEEKS 

BUREAU OF EDUCATION 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFHCE 

1918 






ADDITIONAL COPIES 

OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE PROCTTBED FROM 

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/n iht same series: 

Bulletin, 1912, No. 27. History of Public School Education in Arkansas. 

Bulletin, 1915, No. 12. History of Public School Education in Alabama. 

Bulletin, 1917, No. 18. History of Public School Education in Delaware. 
In preparation: 

History of Public School Education in Tennessee. 



0. 

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Of S). 
'2 I9i8 



X 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 

Chapter I. — The setting for public schools 5 

Early history ; educational efforts by the church 5 

Statistical view of population growth ; 7 

Chapter II.— The beginnings of public-school legislation, 1864-1869 9 

Organization of the Territory 9 

The Howell code and its educational provisions . 10 

Education in the legislature of 1864 10 

The school law of 1867 13 

The school law of 1868 14 

McCrea on these early efforts , 16 

Chapter III. — The administration of Gov. Safford — The State superin- 

tendency established, 1869-1877 18 

Gov. Safford's message to the legislature of 1871 18 

I. The basic act of 1871 .^ 20 

Reports on the act of 1871 — Gov. Safford's work 22 

The situation in 1873 24 

Wasson's review in 1874 26 

XL The situation in 1875 27 

The church and state situation in 1875= : 28 

Last years of Safford's administration 29 

III. Progress up to 1879 — Beginnings in the cities 30 

. — : The - development of schools in various centers 31 

Chapter IV. — The superintendent made an independent officer — Adminis- 
trations of Sherman and Horton, 1879-1885 37 

I. The act of 1879 and the new development 37 

II. Sherman becomes the first independent Territorial superintendent 40 

III. Horton becomes superintendent, 1883-1885 45 

Chapter V. — Organizing the school system, 1885-1887 51 

I. The school laws of 1885 and 1887 52 

II. Administration of Supt. Long, 1885-1887 55 

Chapter VI. — Reaction and progress, 1887-1899 61 

Summary of this period 61 

Reaction in 1887 62 

Educational legislation in 1891 66 

Further fortunes of the schools 66 

Chapter VII. — Further growth and development during the Territorial 

period, 1889-1912 73 

I. Second administration of Robert L. Long, 1899-1902 74 

II. Administration of Nelson G. Layton, 1902-1906 76 

III. Third administration of Robert L. Long, 1906-1909 80 

IV. Administration of Kirk T. Moore, 1901-1912 85 

Chapter VIII. — The ftrst State administratioa of schools 88 

Public lands provided for the schools 88 

Supt. Case becomes State superintendent 89 



4 . COI^TENTS. 

Chapter VIII. — The first State administration of schools— Continued. Page. 

Territorial Industrial School 91 

School for the deaf, dumb, and blind 92 

Rural supervision and pensions 92 

I. The county superintendent 95 

II. Arizona Teachers' Association 96 

III. Educational journalism 97 

IV. School surveys 98 

V. City and high schools 100 

VI. The normal schools 108 

The Tempe Normal School 109 

The Flagstaff Normal School 111 

Chapter IX. The school lands 116 

I. The public school lands 117 

(a) The Salt River school lands 118 

(&) Amount and distribution' of school lands 121 

(c) National forest lands 122 

(d) School lands and Indian reservations 123 

II. The institutional lands 124 

III. The land law of 1915 126 

Chapter X. — The past, the present, and the future 129 

Public school statistics, 1870-1916 336 

Bibliography 138 



HISTORY OF PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN 
ARIZONA. 



Chapter I. 
THE SETTING FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 



The territory of the present State of Arizona is embraced within 
31° 20' and 37° north latitude and between 109° 02' and 114° 45' 
west longitude. It covers an area of 113,956 square miles, of which 
146 miles are water surface. The part north of the Gila River came 
into the possession of the United States under the treaty of Guada- 
lupe Hidalgo in 1848, and that south of the Gila as a part of the 
Gadsden Purchase of 1854. Arizona was at first included in the Ter- 
ritory of New Mexico, and the census of 1860 gives to Arizona 
County, N. Mex., a total of 1,681 families, representing 6,482 free 
individuals. 

Efforts made to draw the southern section of New Mexico within 
the boundaries of the Southern Confederacy were defeated, but per- 
haps hastened the act of February 24, 1863, under which that part of 
New Mexico west of 109° was organized as a separate Territory. 
In December of that year the officers that had been sent out to com- 
plete the Territorial organization entered the Territory and estab- 
lished the government with Prescott as its first capital. 

For the purpose of this study it is hardly necessary to review the 
more than 300 years of exploration, including the " exploring en- 
tradas from the south and east," that preceded the American occupa- 
tion. That period can not be characterized as one of settlement or 
growth. There Were a few mission stations in the southern part of 
the Territory, founded mainly by missionaries who came up from 
old Mexico and organized religious centers (1687-1828) like San 
Xavier del Bac, gathered into their fold some of the less savage In- 
dians, and taught them a little of the elements of Christianity and 
something of secular learning of the more practical kind — -farming 
in particular. Under the influence of the padres the Indians brought 
large bodies of land into cultivation, sheep and cattle were intro- 
duced, comfortable houses were erected, and order and industry 
to some extent took the place of savagery and sloth.^ 

iBuehman, Bstelle M. : Old Tucson (1911), p. 12. 



6 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

When the Jesuits were expelled in 1767 the Franciscans took their 
place, but the missions declined and were finally abandoned in 1828 
by order of the Mexican Government. The influence of their teach- 
ings was largely lost on the Indians as a race; for the converts 
remained largely pagan at heart, and the amount of secular learning, 
in the narrowed use of the term, acquired by them may be regarded 
as an entirely negligible quantity. Further than this the Spanish 
missionaries came in contact in the main only with the tribes of the 
south — the Papagoes and Pimas — sedentary, agricultural, and peace- 
ful Indians; but from the time the Territory was first occupied by 
the United States down to its organization as a separate self-gov- 
erning Territory and from that time down to 1874 its history was 
one of more or less continued Indian wars. Even as late as 1886 the 
menace was not entirely removed, for in that year occurred Geron- 
irno's last outbreak. The country in the northeast was occupied by 
the brave and warlike Navajoes; the central and southern portions 
by the savage Apaches — brave, fierce, bloodthirsty, and cruel. For 
the first generation of its American existence the Arizona iliad 
of Indian horrors was almost unbroken. Indeed during the Civil 
War period, when the pressure of Confederate arms necessitated the 
withdrawal of Federal troops, the savage reigned supreme, and the 
lowest point in civilization since the American occupation was at- 
tained. 

Prior to the American occupation all the inhabitants of this region 
were Mexicans and Indians; and all the educational institutions, 
general in character and purpose, proposed in the past for this coun- 
try by the Spanish Government had failed of realization. 

Thus early as 1777-1789 the founding, of a missionary college, 
perhaps at El Paso, was ordered by the King and the Pope,^ but 
nothing was accomplished. About the same time industrial education 
was proposed as a remedy for the ills of the country, but this, too, 
came to naught,- and while educational reforms were demanded by 
Pedro Bautista Pino, the New Mexican representative in the Span- 
ish Cortes of 1812, his efforts were without results.^ 

The less ambitious educational undertakings at the missions, con- 
ducted and controlled by the missionaries who came up from Mexico, 
were a little more successful, but they were intended for the Indians 
only, and were later abandoned. 

Hamilton, in his Eesources of Arizona, says: 

After the abandonment of the missions, and up to the time of the Gadsden 
Purchase, there was not a school or educational establishment of any kind 
within the territory. 

1 Bancroft's New Mexico and Arizona, San Francisco, 1888, p. 274. 

»Ibid., p. 278. 

»Ibid., pp. 289, 304, 307. 



THE SETTING FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 7 

There was, however, at least one such school in operation during 
the earlier years of American dominion, for Gov. Goodwin mentions 
it in his message to the first assembly in September, 1864. This was 
the mission of San Xavier del Bac, near Tucson. 

McClintock states that a Catholic school was established at Tucson 
in 1866 under a teacher named Vincent, and that in 1870 the Sisters 
of St. Joseph organized a girls' school there and erected buildings.^ 
Of this school for girls Hamilton says : 

The first regular educational establishment was opened by the Sisters of 
St. Joseph, in Tucson. For years this was the only school in the Territory, and 
from many isolated towns and settlements parents sent their children to the 
Academy of St. Joseph. Although the institution was under the control of the 
Catholic Church, and the instruction given partook somewhat of a religious 
character, yet no discrimination was shown.^ 

In view of these conditions, and with the exception of the two 
schools mentioned above, one of which was for Indians and the other 
for girls, in matters of education, the men who organized the Terri- 
tory of Arizona at Navajo Springs in December, 1863, and began 
laying the foundations for an American public-school system, found 
among the white settlers of American origin a field practically unoc- 
cupied. What, then, was the origin and race of the white settlers 
and what were the conditions which the advocates of the American 
public school found in Arizona ? 

1 McClintock, James H. : History of Arizona, II, 495. 

2 Hamilton, Patrick : Resources of Arizona, 3d ed., 1884, pp. 247-48. 

There was another St. Joseph's Academy located near the military hospital of Camp 
Lowell, near Prescott. The building was begun March 19, 1868 ; finished May 6, 1870 ; 
opened June 6, 1870, with 33 pupils ; number now in attendance, 210 ; the building was 
120 by 60 feet. — Arizona Miner, Nov. 18, 1824. 

Statistical view of the growth of Arizona's population, 1860-1910. 



Years. 


White. 


Colored. 


Total. 


Per cent of 
increase. 


Population 

per square 

mile. 




16,842 
9,581 
35, 160 
55,734 
92,903 
171,468 










1870 


26 
3 5,280 
s 32, 509 
3 30,028 
3 32,786 


9,658 
40,440 
88,243 
122,931 
204,354 




08 


1880 


319. 75 
118.20 
39.31 
66.23 


35 


1890 


77 


1900 




1910 









1 For Arizona County, N. Mex., population not diflerentiated by color, race, or nativity. 

2 In 1880 this included only the civilized Indians. 

3 Includes Negroes, Indians, Chinese, Japanesa. 



8 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

Statisiical view of the sources of Arizona's population, 1810-1910. 



Bom in- 


1870 


1880 


1890 


1900 


1910 


New York 


481 
275 
235 
156 
121 
115 
114 
107 
93 
69 
63 
32 
1 


1,740 
814 
954 

2,177 
921 
688 
525 
451 

1,153 
373 
314 
328 

1,354 


1,755 

1,023 

1,234 

3,142 

1,781 

1,328 

285 

700 

1,274 

661 

579 

441 

2,836 


2,324 
1,672 
2,100 
5,099 
3 187 
2,659 
4,510 
1,189 
3,351 
1,248 
783 
814 
3,152 


3,082 


Pennsylvania 


2,818 
3 549 


Ohio 


California 


6,101 


Missouri. 


5,206 


Illinois 


4,700 




10, 139 




2,168 


New Mexico. 


4,477 


Tnfliana 


?;1 






1,542 


Utah.. 


2,679 








112 
379 

686 
4,339 


571 
1,110 
2,312 
9,330 


2,121 

2,691 
11,534 


1,827 
1,247 
3,255 
14, 172 


1,269 




1,846 


CrTmt Britain 


5,836 


Mexico 


29,987 







From these statistics it is evident that the majority of the people 
who came to settle in Arizona were from States where the public 
school was already established, and for that reason, since these set- 
tlers had already been indoctrinated with the public school idea, little 
opposition from them was to be expected. This was also clearly 
the case with the immigrants from Europe and from Canada. Those 
who might be expected to show indifference were the Mexican im- 
migrants from old and New Mexico, but experience has since proved 
that this assumption was erroneous. It would appear that otherwise 
little opposition was to be expected except such as was founded on 
physical and financial conditions and on the very pertinent difficulty 
arising out of the scarcity of children. On this phase of the problem 
McClintock remarks : 

Schools were slow in coming to Arizona, probably because of the absence of 
children other than Mexican. Few of the pioneers brought families into the 
Territory. It is probable that most of the pioneers simply had an idea, like 
the first California adventurers, of " making their pile " and going " home." 
Upon the groundwork they laid, however, was established a more permanent 
civilization, within which schools were a necessity. The first Territorial legis- 
lature passed a school code, but there seems to have been only one school, a 
small private one in Prescott, and that maintained largely by private sub- 
scriptions.^ 

» McClintock, James H. : Ariaona, II, 495. 



Chapter II. 
THE BEGINNING OF PUBLIC=SCHOOL LEGISLATION, 1864-1869.- 



For the purposes of this study the question of education prior to 
the time of the organization of Arizona into a separate Territory- 
need not be further considered. This organization was effected 
under an act passed February 24, 1863, " to provide a temporary gov- 
ernment for the Territory of Arizona, and for other purposes." But 
that was a time of Civil War in the East and of Indian war in the 
West ; and it was not till December 27, 1863, that John N. Goodwin, 
of Maine, who had been appointed governor, together with the other 
appointive officers, entered the Territory and formally inaugurated 
the government at Navajo Springs, 40 miles west of Zuni, on De- 
cember 29, 1863.^ The capital was fixed temporarily at Prescott, 
and the first session of the Territorial legislature met on September 
26, 1964. 

The new government was not long in proclaiming its adhesion to 
the great American ideal. Gov, Goodwin uttered the first formal 
official expression on the subject of public education in his first mes- 
sage to the first session of the first legislature of the Territory when 
he said : 

One of the most interesting and important subjects that will engage your 
attention is the establishment of a system of common schools. 

Self-government and universal education are inseparable. The one can be 
exercised only as the other is enjoyed. The common school, the high school, 
and the university should all be established and are worthy of your fostering 
care. The first duty of the legislators of a free State is to make, as far as 
lies in their power, education as free to all its citizens as the air they breathe. 
A system of common schools is the grand foundation upon which the whole 
superstructure should rest. If that be broad and firm, a symmetrical and ele- 
gant temple of learning will be erected. I earnestly recommend that a portion 
of the funds raised by taxation be appropriated for these purposes and that a 
beginning, though small, be made. 

The act organizing the Territory of New Mexico provides that, when the lands 
in this Territory shall be surveyed, * * * sections numbered 16 and 36 in 
each township are reserved for the purpose of being applied to schools. * * * 
It does not seem to me that any portion of this donation can be made Imme- 
diately available. 

1 Jour. First Legislative Assembly, Arizona, 1864, p. 13. Navajo Springs is about 40 
miles east of the present town of Holbrook, on the Santa F6 Railroad. 



10 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

To these words, which look to the future, were added others which 
looked to the past, for the final act which divided church and state 
was yet to be fought out in Arizona, and the public-school system did 
not enter on the inheritance of the church in that Territory without 
a struggle. 

Gov. Goodwin continued: 

The only school which I have visited in the Territory, though doubtless there 
are others, is one at the old Mission Church of San Xavier. If any such insti- 
tution be recognized by an endowment, I suggest that some aid be given to 
this school. A small donation at this time would materially assist an ancient 
and most laudable charity of the church to which a large proportion of our 
people belong, and would encourage it in preserving one of the most beautiful 
remnants of art on the continent.* 

The first official action of the legislature of the Territory at this 
session was to authorize the governor to appoint a commissioner to 
prepare and report on a code of laws as a basis of Territorial govern- 
ment. The bill for this purpose was introduced, considered, and 
passed by both houses in a single day, and on the same day, October 
1, 1864, was signed by Gov. Goodwin, who immediately appointed 
Hon. William F. Howell, then an associate justice of the supreme 
court of the Territory, to prepare and report the proposed code. 
Judge Howell had come into the Territory with the government and 
had found — 

that the laws under which we were required to act were so ill-adapted to our 
condition that a complete organization of the Territorial government could not 
be had until a code of laws was substituted for those now in force. 

He thereupon undertook in advance the preparation of such a code, 
and his completed work was presented for the consideration of the 
legislature on October 3. The proposed code, based on the codes of 
California and New York, was then considered and discussed by the 
legislature; it was finally adopted as a whole as proposed by Judge 
Howell, went into effect at once, and became the basis for the legis- 
lative work of Arizona. 

As adopted by the legislature of 1864, chapter 23 of the Howell 
code treats " Of Education." It was divided into four parts and 
provided for (1) a Territorial university; (2) a common-school 
system; (3) a Territorial library; and (4) an historical department. 

The Howell code may be regarded as a sort of constitutional out- 
line under and in accord with which future legislation was to be 
developed. It was not in itself a school code, but it outlined the 
direction such a code when enacted should take. It proposed, first 
of all, a higher institution " for the purpose of educating youth in 
the various branches of literature, science, and arts " to be known as 

» Governor's message. Sept 30, 1864, in Jour. First Legislative Assembly, Arizona, 
pp. 38-40. 



THE BEGINNING OF PUBLIC SCHOOL LEGISLATION. 11 

the University of Arizona. The university was to be under a board 
of seven regents made up of the governor, the judges of the supreme 
court, and three other members chosen by the legislature. The main 
support of the institution was to be derived from the lands granted 
to the territory for that purpose. The university, when organized, 
was to consist of (1) a department of literature, science, and the 
arts; (2) a department of natural history, including a history of the 
Territory; and (3) such other departments to be added as the regents 
should deem necessary and the university funds allow. The regents 
were directed to select a site for the university before January 1, 1866. 
In the meantime, university moneys accruing were to be kept in the 
hands of the State treasurer. 

Under this law nothing was accomplished toward the organization 
of the proposed university. As McCrea has pertinently said, for the 
next 10 years the best energies of the people were to be devoted to a 
desolating Indian war; and the Universitj- of Arizona, the dream 
of this Michigan Jurist and of his friend, the governor, was for- 
gotten for a generation in the fierce struggle to hold the land for 
civilization.^ 

In the matter of common schools it was provided that — 

as soon as there shall have accumulated sufficient funds and a necessity 
therefor exists the legislature shall provide for a system of common-school 
education at the public expense and may at any time authorize a tax to be 
levied by school districts for the support of schools until such system of 
common-school education shall be established. 

The proceeds of lands granted by Congress for this purpose, ap- 
propriations made by the Territory, and the proceeds of gifts, grants, 
and donations " shall be and remain a perpetual fund, the interest, 
rents, and proceeds thereof to be inviolably applied to the object of 
the original grant or gift, and to no other use or purpose whatso- 
ever"; and until such system was established by law all moneys 
were to accumulate and remain in the Territorial treasury as a 
distinct fund, to be known as the common-school fund.^ 

The remaining phases of the Howell code were supplementary 
to the above. They provided for the establishment of a Territorial 
library supported by moneys out of the Territorial treasury and in 
charge of a Territorial librarian. And in addition to the above it 
was provided that — 

» McCrea, Samuel Pressly : Establishment of the Arizona School System, in Report 
Supt. Public Instruction, 1907-8, p. 79 et seq. Mr. McCrea was educated at Muskingum 
College and at the Indiana State Normal School. He has taught in various sections of 
the Territory and was in 1897-98 principal of the Tucson public schools. 

2 On the income from Territorial lands McCrea remarks (p. 78) : "As was true else- 
where, the Ariaona legislators had an exaggerated idea of the amount of income likely 
to arise from the grants of land made by Congress for education. Until 1898 Arizona 
derived no income from the school lands within her borders, and then and since only a 
small amount from leasing sections 16 and 36 in the farming regions of the Terri- 
tory." 



12 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCAGTION IN ARIZONA. 

there shall be established and connected with the Territorial library an 
historical department, the object of which shall be to collect, preserve, and 
publish the natural and political history of the Territory. For this purpose 
the librarian shall procure, as far as possible, all writings, histories, letters, 
lectures, essays, maps, chaits, and books relating to said Territory and its 
history, and carefully preserve the same. In like manner he shall procure 
specimens of geology, mineralogy, and botany found or produced within the 
Territory. 

The librarian was to collect also all newspapers, pamphlets, books, 
and magazines published in the Territory and to print from time to 
time selections from his manuscript papers. An assistant librarian 
might be appointed to superintend this division, but after the uni- 
versity was established it was to be transferred to the historical 
department of the university. 

After passing the Howell code the legislature turned its attention 
to the consideration of the question of the establishment of a public 
educational system. This was decided against : ^ 

The joint committee on education report that after a mature consideration 
they have decided that it would be premature to establish or to attempt any 
regular system of common or district schools. At present the Territory is too 
sparsely settled, and the necessary officers for such an establishment would 
be more costly than the education of the children would warrant. 

The committee did provide, however, that a gift of $250 be paid 
to the person " in pastoral charge " of the mission school at San 
Xavier del Bac, " for purchase of books of instruction, stationery, 
and furniture." The pupils in this school were Mexicans and Papago 
Indians ; it was characterized as the first school opened in American 
Arizona, and the grant was without limitations, but grants of similar 
amounts to Prescott, LaPaz, and Mohave were declared to be 
" for benefit of a public school " ; and it was further provided that 
" said appropriations shall be void and of no efi^ect unless said towns 
by taxation, appropriation, or individual enterprise, furnish an 
equal sum for the aid of such school." 

It was reported that there had been three primary schools in 
Tucson " during part of last year," and to this town was given $500 
with the general requirement that the town raise a similar amount 
and an additional proviso that " the English language forms a part 
of the instruction of such school." 

The public moneys appropriated were to be placed in the hands 
of the board of county commissioners, to be paid over by them when 
the schools had complied with the terms of the act. County and 
judicial district treasurers were also required to pay over to the 
county commissioners for the benefit of the public schools " all moneys 
in their hands that may have accrued from town licenses, and not 
otherwise appropriated." 

1 See report of joint committee in Jours. First Legislative Assembly, 1864, pp. 176-77. 



THE BEGINNIISTG OF PUBLIC SCHOOL LEGISLATION. 13 

It was further ordered that the county commissioners " shall be 
trustees of public schools and may appoint a suitable person to 
examine the course of instruction, discipline, and attendance of 
said schools, and the qualifications of the teachers, and report the 
same to them at their stated general meeting"; neither commis- 
sioners nor inspectors were to receive any pay for their work.^ 

From these statements it will be noted that the church school 
was devoted to the instruction of Mexican and Indian children, and 
that some of such private schools as existed were not taught in 
English. 

To meet the requirements of these appropriations the sum of 
$1,500 was voted,^ but it does not appear that the conditions of the 
grants were complied with by the towns or that the money made 
available was used, for in his message to the legislature of 1867 
Gov. E. C. McCormick says : 

If I am correctly informed, none of the towns have complied with this re- 
quirement, and the funds of the Territory have not been used. The sums, 
however, are insufficient to be of more than a temporary benefit, and sufficient 
funds have not yet accumulated.* 

By 1865 interest in the schools had begun to wane. Although 
practically nothing had been done. Gov. McCormick then thought 
that " the existing provisions for schools " in the various parts of 
the Territory were sufficient ; * and, as usual, like governor, like legis- 
lature, no bill looking to the advancement of education was passed or 
even considered. Nor was anything done educationally in 1866. In 
1867 Gov, McCormick had concluded that " in the opinion of many 
of the people the time has come for some definite and liberal pro- 
vision for the establishment and maintenance of public schools in 
the Territory," and an act on schools was passed in October, 1867.® 

The law of 1867 provided that the county board of supervisors' 
should have power to establish school districts. Any settlement with 
a resident population of 100 persons might be set apart as a school 
district, and any number of legal voters might make application for 
a school in such district. The board of supervisors were then to 
levy a tax of not more than 5 mills on the assessed value of all 
taxable property within the limits of the district " as shown by the 

1 Approved Nov. 7, 1864. 
' Act of Nov. 10, 1864. 

2 Jours, of Fourth Legislative Assembly, 1867, p. 42. In his message to the assembly 
of 1865 (Jours., 1865, p. 47) Gov. McCormick had said that Prescott had availed itself 
of the opportunity and that " a school has been well sustained during part of the 
year." 

* Message in Jour., 1865, p. 47. 

' The first bills to establish schools in Arizona were introduced by Hon. Solomon W. 
Chambers, of Tubac, and Hon. John B. Allen, later a resident of the same place. The 
Chambers bill was defeated, and the Alien bill became the law of 1867. See Historical 
Sketch of Public Schools of Arizona in Report Tucson Public Schools, 1893-94, p. 25. 

•These are presumably the same officers as those called county commissioners in the 
act of 1864. 



14 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

last assessment roll of the county assessor." This tax was to be col- 
lected by the county tax collector and paid into the county treasury. 
The supervisors were to determine the site of the schools, purchase, 
build, or hire rooms suitable for school purposes, " furnish the same 
with proper desks, tables, books, and seats, and shall, from time to 
time, hire competent teachers for such schools, for such periods as 
the funds on hand may allow." 

It does not appear that much was accomplished under this law, for 
then, as later, many communities in Arizona could not qualify in 
population requirements. It is probable, however, that the framers 
of the act of 1867 had in mind the organization of schools in the 
towns and cities, and if the law had been faithfully carried out 
public schools might have been organized in the four county vSeats 
and in one or two of the larger mining camps.^ Nothing seems to 
have been done, for the United States Bureau of Education said in 
its report for 1870 that it was unable to ascertain " whether any 
schools have gone into operation under this law." ^ 

Gov. McCormick had nothing to say on the subject in his message 
to the fifth assembly (1868), but nevertheless on the 16th of De- 
cember, 1868, the legislature tried its hand on a more detailed 
school law than had been hitherto attempted.^ 

This law had in view an elaboration of the act of 1867. It pro- 
vided that the county board of supervisors should be constituted 
a county board of education and have under its authority all mat- 
ters pertaining to education. The board was to recommend legisla- 
tion, alterations, and amendments and make annual reports. They 
were to select and adopt the textbooks to be used and divide counties 
into school districts of not less than 20 children. 

The counties were to choose at their annual election a county 
superintendent of public schools, who was to make an annual report 
and have charge of the public-school interests of the county. He 
was to apportion the school fund in proportion to the number of 
school children living in each district between 4 and 21 years of 
age, visit the schools, examine into their progress, and advise with 
the teachers. He was to hold at stated times public examinations 
for all persons offering as teachers and grant certificates for not 
more than one year to such as were qualified to teach orthography, 
reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, and English grammar. 

The voters in a school district meeting had authority to vote such 
tax as necessary to furnish the schoolhouse with blackboards, outline 

^McCrea, in Long's Report, 1908, p. 81. 

2 Rept. U. S. Commis. o£ Educ, 1870, p. 318. 

» See Compiled Laws of Arizona, 1871, pp. 213-223 ; also session laws, 1868, known 
as the Chambers bill because introduced by Hon. Solomon W. Chambers, who had in- 
troduced a bill in 1867 of which this was an elaboration. See Historical Sketch of the 
Public Schools of Arizona in Report Tucson Public Schools, 1893-94, p. 25. 



THE BEGINNING OP PUBLIC SCHOOL LEGISLATION. 15 

maps, and apparatus, provided this tax did not exceed one-fourth of 
1 per cent per annum. A district school board consisting of a direc- 
tor, clerk, and treasurer was to be elected, and the school district 
when thus organized was given corporate powers. The voters were 
to decide also how long the schools should be kept open and whether 
they should be taught by a man or woman or by both, and whether 
the school money should be applied to the summer or winter term. 
The district board had general charge of the schools, and its clerk 
was to make an annual report. 

It was provided that the district tax should not exceed 1^ per cent 
per annum, but the county board might levy an additional one-fifth 
of 1 per cent on all the taxable property in each county for the 
support of public schools in the county. The funds raised in the 
county by taxation or coming from the legislature or other sources 
were to be known as the common school fund, and were to be used 
for no other purpose ; taxes for schools were to be " assessed on the 
same kind of property as taxes for county purposes are assessed." 
They were also collected by the same officers and in the same way 
as other county taxes. 

In neither of these acts was there any provision for Territorial 
oversight. There was, however, something of a county organiza- 
tion, with a county superintendent ; a county tax ; a district organiza- 
tion with required and special taxes. A part of the machinery for 
schools was being evolved, but the acts of 1867 and 1868 provided for 
local taxes only for schools, and this phase of taxation has not even 
yet attained full success within the State ; further, the school officers — 
most of them ex officios — were to receive nothing for the performance 
of these new duties, and there was always the unsolved 'problem of 
distances. It is to be presumed that school organization would begin 
with the towns, and although Gov. McCormick complimented the 
legislature and himself by saying that they had laid " the founda- 
tions of a thorough system of common schools, an act in itself suffi- 
cient to make j^our meeting memorable," there is little or no record 
to show that anything was done. As McCrea has suggested (p. 82), 
what the Territory needed was an educational leader, and founding 
schools was not Gov. McCormick's forte. 

In justice to the officers of the Government and other leaders, it 
must be remembered also that in 1870 there were reported but 9,581 
persons living in a territory that covered more than 113,000 square 
miles, or if they had been evenly distributed only about one person to 
every 12 square miles of territory; that in addition much of this 
was barren desert infested by the infernal Apaches, perhaps the 
most cruel and devilish of all American Indians. 



16 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

As a matter of fact, however, the conditions were much better than 
the above would indicate. The few families living here and there 
on individual ranches may be ignored educationally, for they were 
lucky if they escaped with their lives. But most of the settlers 
lived in small towns or villages, in communities that were convenient 
to farming or mining operations, and with them the beginnings of a 
public-school system were possible. As McCrea points out, in several 
of the mining camps there were enough Mexican children to start a 
school, but there were no buildings, books, or teachers. Half th«d 
population spoke no English; few of the children had ever seen a 
school; and while the more intelligent of both races were anxious 
for schools, the great mass of the people were not only indifferent, 
but sometimes even hostile.^ 

Perhaps what these people needed most was educational leadership. 
This they did not have. Gov. Goodwin went out of office after 
one year; Gov. McCormick was more interested in exploiting the 
natural resources; and it was not until the time of Gov. Safford 
that the schools might feel that their educational Moses had arisen. 

Of the law of 1868, of the work of Gov. McCormick, and of the 
schools and school prospects in general, McCrea says: 

The administration of the new school law rested on the slow-moving boards 
of supervisors, and on a county superintendent of schools elected by the people, 
but whose compensation was in the supervisors' hands. The schools were to be 
supported entirely by local taxes, which were limited in amount, and must be 
raised by the people of the respective districts. I do not know whence this 
school law was obtained, but it was entirely unsuited to a people who had no 
training in local self-government. The people of Arizona have not even yet 
learned the valuable lesson of partially supporting their schools by local taxes, 
and rarely levy special taxes upon districts except to meet the expense of erect- 
ing new school buildings. 

While there was enough authority in the law to provide schools, there was as 
yet nothing to create a strong desire for them. Gov. McCormick had done much 
to advance the material interests of the Territory, but founding schools was 
not his forte. What the people most needed was an educational leader, and he 
was soon to be supplied. * * * The Federal Census of 1870 supplies the 
background of the seemingly hopeless picture. The large foreign element, 
mainly Mexican, would lead us to expect a startling illiteracy. Few children 
attended any kind of school. The professions were hardly represented at all. 
The Territory had but one newspaper — The Arizona Miner — at Prescott, with a 
circulation of 280 copies; though a second paper, the Arizona Citizen, was 
founded at Tucson that year. No Protestant Church had yet been founded, 
though there had been some missionary effort. The Catholic Church was 
strong, and was soon able to begin founding parochial schools and convents. 
The situation from an educational standpoint was bad enough. The only re- 
deeming feature was the fact that the Territory had no debt, and the counties 
but a slight one. Some property had been accumulated by the limited popu- 

* McCrea, report, 1908, pp. 81-82. 



THE BEGINNING OF PUBLIC SCHOOL LEGISLATION. " 17 

lation in the face of a constant struggle with the worst Indians on the continent. 
But a brighter day was about to dawn for Arizona. 

The first period of effort had now passed without tangible results. 
In his summary for the period McCrea remarks : 

In the first period 1S6'^1869 the people of the Territory were engaged in a 
fierce struggle for the possession of the land. The great mineral wealth of the 
Territory was becoming known, though other occupations than mining and 
freighting were developed slowly and under great difficulties. Neither life nor 
property was safe. While such industrial conditions continued, stability and 
thrift were largely lacking in the population, and the necessity of educating 
their children appealed to them but slightly. The chief men of the Territory 
wanted to see those institutions founded which would help to make the 
possession of the Territory secure, and which would aid in attracting to it <i 
more intelligent and stable population.^ 

1 McCrea, loc. cit., p. 74. 
61563°— 18 2 



Chapter III. 

THE ADMI^flSTRATION OF GOV. SAFFORD— THE STATE SUPERIN- 
TENDENCY ESTABLISHED, 1869-1879. 



The law of 1868 brought to a close what may be called the first 
period of public education in Arizona. Little was accomplished 
during that period. The school system was not organized and had 
not yet found its leader. 

This leader came in the person of Anson P. K. Safford, who on 
April 7, 1869, was appointed third governor of the Territory. Gov. 
Safford had been a member of the California House of Representa- 
tives, had been surveyor general of Nevada, and is said to have 
been unusually well equipped for his new position. He was gover- 
nor for nearly eight years — the longest term during which any one 
man has as yet held the office. He is believed to have influenced the 
history of the Territory far more than any other executive, and was 
more generally supported in his efforts for the public good. Owing 
in part to more favorable conditions, he was also more successful 
than his predecessors in advancing the material interests of the Terri- 
tory, but his fame as an able administrator rests mainly on his suc- 
cessful efforts to solve the educational problem of Arizona. 

It should not be understood, however, that Gov. Safford's task in 
convincing the members of the legislature of the correctness of his 
educational views was an easy matter, or that the vigorous, self- 
contained, and self-reliant men who made up that frontier legisla- 
ture were won except by the strongest and soundest arguments, 
as the following pages will show. 

His message to the legislature of 1871, the first which met during 
his administration, is in part an eloquent oration on the importance 
and necessity of education. When we consider the character of the 
country, the scarcity of population, the savage Apache, and the lack 
of all facilities for education, the sublime faith and devotion of Gov. 
Safford really earned the reward which posterity has recognized as 
being his due, and which they have in part repaid by calling one of 
the towns of the upper Gila Valley, in Graham County, in his honor. 

Fortunately for the historian. Gov. Safford has himself told in 
glowing periods of this educational development; and his review, 
when supplemented and reenforced by his messages, presents a story 
well worthy of being retold for the sake of those who face difficul- 
ties less severe than those faced by Gov. Safford in 1871. 
18 



ADMINISTRATION OF GOVEENOR SAFFORD. 19 

In his report to the Commissioner of Education in 18TG, Gov. 
Safford said : ^ 

Upon assuming the duties of the office of governor in the year 1869 I found 
that several previous legislatures had enacted school laws, but in none had any 
positive provisions been made to sustain public schools, it having been left 
optional with school-board trustees and county boards of supervisors to levy a 
school tax or not. The result was that no means were provided and no schools 
were organized. I saw clearly that the first and most important measure to 
adopt was to provide the means by making the tax compulsory and as certain 
as the revenue for carrying on the machinery of government. I at once, after 
assuming the duties of my office, began to agitate the subject. The first legis- 
lature convened in 1871. I prepared a school bill and presented it to the mem- 
bers as soon as they assembled. 

Gov. Safford emphasized and made clear to the legislature his posi- 
tion when he said in his message : 

Next in importance to the Indian question, none mil claim your attention over 
that of devising some plan for the education of the youth of our Territory. 
The recent census returns show a population of children, under the age of 21 
and over 6 years, of 1,923, and the mortifying fact has to be admitted that we 
have not a public school in the Territory. There is, and has been for some time, 
a school in Prescott under the management of S. C. Rogers, and much credit 
is due that gentleman for his zeal and efforts to encourage education. The 
Sisters of St. Joseph have recently established a school in Tucson for the edu- 
cation of females, and too much praise can not be accorded them for leaving 
home and its surrounding comforts and coming to this remote Territory to 
promote education. With limited means and in a strange land they have over- 
come every obstacle, and in a few months established a school creditable to any 
country, and which is already attended by about 130 pupils. 

But the object most desirable to attain is the adoption of a school system 
for free public schools, so that the poor and rich alike can share equal benefits. 
In a country like ours, where the power to govern is derived from the consent, 
of the governed, it becomes a matter of vital importance and necessity, if we are 
to protect and make permanent our republican institutions, that the people shall 
be educated. Not only this, but history records the fact that the power and 
glory of nations and peoples keep pace only with their enlightenment and 
intelligence. * * * 

I am of the opinion that our Government should adopt a system of free schools 
for the whole people, and that, as soon as it were put in operation, it should by 
law compel the attendance of every child of sound mind and proper age through- 
out the length and breadth of the Republic. * * * 

I consider it imperatively necessary that we shall do something for ourselves. 

The present school law has been found inadequate to accomplish the desired 
object ; in fact, it has been wholly inoperative. To obtain the means to put a 
free school system in operation I would recommend that a portion of the 
Territorial revenues be set apart for school purposes, and that this fund be 
divided between the several counties of the Territory in proportion to the num- 
ber of children that attend school. The boards of supervisors of the several 
counties should be compelled to divide the counties into one or more school 
districts, and levy a tax upon all the property of the county to raise a sufficient 
fund, with the money derived from the Territory, to maintain, for a term of 

1 Eept. U. S. Commis. of Educ, 1876, pp. 431-433. 



20 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

at least six months each yea:r, one or more free schools in each of the counties. 
This will undoubtedly, to a small extent, increase taxation ; but I hardly believe 
there is a property owner who would not prefer to pay an increased tax than 
see the rising generation grow up in ignorance ; and the small extra tax that is 
required to maintain free schools will very soon be doubly repaid in the saving 
of expenses in criminal prosecutions/ 

The school bill was introduced by the Hon. Estevan Ochoa, prob- 
ably the most prominent Mexican of that day in Arizona. He was 
generally respected and had great personal influence, and the spec- 
tacle of a citizen of that race presenting an educational measure in 
an American assembly ought to have spurred his neighbors to action ; 
but somehow it did not, and the bill received but a half-hearted 
support.^ 

Gov. Safford himself tells how his message and bill were received 
by the legislature : ' 

Scarcely a member looked upon it with favor. They argued that the Apaches 
were overrunning the ctAintry ; that through murder and robbery the people 
were in poverty and distress ; that repeated attempts had been made to organize 
schools and that failure had always ensued. To these objections I replied that 
the American people could and ultimately would subdue the Apaches ; that 
unless we educated the rising generation we should raise up a population no 
more capable of self-government than the Apaches themselves; and that the 
failure to establish schools had been the result of imperfect statutes during 
the entire session. 

Finally, on the last day of the session, they passed the bill, after striking out 
nearly all the revenue which had been provided. The measure was the best 
that could be secured and had to be accepted as it was. 

I. THE BASIC ACT OF 1871. 

But even then the act of February 18, 1871, was a long step on 
the road leading to complete school organization. It was the first 
law that provided for a general or Territorial tax for the support 
of schools, and it has served as the basic law for subsequent educa- 
tional enactments.* To begin with, it levied a general Territorial 
tax of 10 cents on the $100 of property and directed that this be 
collected and paid into the Territorial treasury " as a special fund 
for school purposes." It was provided also that it be levied and 

1 See Jours. Legislative Assembly, 1871, pp. 43-45. 

2 The Historical Sketch of the Arizona Public Schools, printed in the Report of 
Tucson Public Schools for 1893-94, p. 25 et seq., says that this bill was introduced by 
Hon. H. S. Stevens, of Pima County. The apparent contradiction can probably be ex- 
plained by referring one introduction to one house and one to the other. See McCrea, 
loc. cit., p. 84. 

» See Rept. U. S. Commis. of Bduc, 1876, p. 432. The bill was passed Feb. 18, 1871. 

* McCrea points out that the Arizona school law of 1871 "was evidently talien from 
the Revised School Laws of California (1866), as the general plan for the proposed 
system was the same as that of California, while many of the provisions were couched 
in the same language." The slietch in the Tucson school report for 1893-94 maljes 
the same statement. 



ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR SAPFORD. 21 

collected " at the same time and in the same manner as other Terri- 
torial revenues," thus placing school taxes on the same level as other 
taxes. They were not relegated to a different category, put on a 
different footing, and the power given to every disgruntled voter to 
say whether there should be taxes at all, and if so, how much, and 
how they should be collected, as was done in some of the States. In 
other words, the schools were recognized as one of the necessary re- 
quirements of modern government, to be provided for just as the 
police department or the executive ofiicers. We may accurately say, 
then, that while Arizona did not escape the almost universal struggle 
which has been waged at one time or another by one interest or an- 
other against the public-school system, there has never been a day 
since the organization of the Territory when the public-school idea 
did not stand out boldly and distinctly as a function of the modern 
State. 

The law of 1871 ordered that the county board of supervisors 
should levy a county school tax not to exceed 50 cents per hundred, 
to be collected as other taxes, and it provided further for the enforce- 
ment of this action if the county authorities fail to act. 

A Territorial board of education was created, consisting of the 
Territorial secretary, the superintendent of public instruction, and 
the Territorial treasurer. Since the governor was made ex officio 
Territorial superintendent, and the Territorial treasurer was one of 
his appointees, it is evident that he controlled the situation, and that 
the schools would fare well or ill according to his own individual 
enthusiasm for education. The board was to hold at least two meet- 
ings per year " for the purpose of devising plans for the improvement 
and management of the public-school funds and for the better organi- 
zation of the public schools of the Territory. The governor was 
made ex officio superintendent of public instruction, but with no 
increase in salary for these extra duties. He was given, however, 
$500 for expenses." ^ His duties were to apportion funds between the 
pupils 6 to 21; make an annual report; prescribe forms; prepare a 
school register ; visit each county every year ; and make estimates of 
future expenditures on which was to be based the county school tax. 
All scliool moneys, both county and Territorial, were to be regarded 
as special funds and were to be used for school purposes only. 

The probate judge of the county was made ex officio county school 
superintendent, but with no extra pay,^ except $100 for traveling 
expenses. He was to apportion the county school money among the 

* This item appears again and again In the official records of the Territory as if it 
were a real salary paid to the superintendent instead of a mere extra allowance to the 
governor to meet extra expenses when acting in his capacity as Territorial superin- 
tendent. 

2 By the act of Feb. 13, 1871, the salary of the probate judges was fixed at $300 per 



22 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

school districts in proportion to children 6 to 21, provided the schools 
had been kept open for three months ; ^ he was to visit the schools ; 
distribute blanks; and make reports. In case he failed to make 
reports he was to be fined. 

In each school district a board of three public-school trustees was 
to be elected, in whose hands, when organized, was placed the direct 
management of the schools and the granting of teaching certificates. 
They were to take the school census every year; were to provide and 
furnish schoolhouses ; and when Territorial and county money was 
not sufficient to keep the schools open " for at least three months in 
each year" they might levy a district tax sufficient to make up the 
shortage ; by a two-thirds vote also the district might levy a further 
tax to extend the term beyond three months and to erect schoolhouses. 
New school districts might be set off on petition of 10 families. 
A uniform series of textbooks was adopted, and indigent jjupils 
might be supplied, but the books were not otherwise furnished free. 
The subjects taught in the schools covered spelling, reading, gram- 
mar, arithmetic, geography, physiology, " and such other studies as 
may be by said board deemed necessary." 

This law furnished the Territory for the first time a complete 
system — a Territorial center in the Territorial board and super- 
intendent; county organization and supervision; district or local 
supervision, with a tax levied by each of the three divisions and 
all contributing to the support of the system. Its vital weakness 
was that all the supervision was to be done by ex officios, who, en- 
gaged in otlier lines of administrative work, had often little time 
and possibly less inclination to see the duties of school administration 
carried out. The acme of this folly is seen in the section which 
ordered the probate judges to make certain school reports and fined 
them for failure, but did not pay them for performance.^ 

Under date of November 3, 1871 (the law was passed Feb. 18, 
1871), Gov. Safford writes to the United States Bureau of Education 
that "every effort has been made to place a free school system in 
operation with as little expense as possible. It is now confidently 
expected that by January 1, 1872, a free school will be established 

^The Weekly Miner (Prescott) complains in its -issues of Nov. 25 and Dec. 2, 1871, 
that the school law was defective. It said the school system, when once under way, 
might go on indefinitely, but there was no way to start it, for the law provided that 
no ^hool should have any public money unless it had had a school for three months in 
the previous year, or before the first distribution. The trustees must conduct the school 
for three months at their own expense or ignore sec. 33 of the law. It urged that it 
would be only by utmost and immediate attention that they could hope to establish a 
school by Jan. 1, 1872. They seem to have risen to the occasion, however, for on 
Jan. 2 the Miner announces that the board was to lease a building and open a school 
as soon as the textbooks ordered from San Francisco arrived. 

*The act of 1873 allowed the probate judges $100 per year for their services. See 
Sess. Acts, 1873, sec. 15, p. 66. 



ADMINISTEATIOK OF GOVERISrOR SAFFOED. 23 

in every school district of the Territory."^ At this time also Gov. 
Saiford further urged that Congress allow the Territory to sell some 
of the lands which were to be donated to it for schools when it became 
a State. 

Later Gov. Safford gave some further account of the workings of 
the act of 1871. ^ He then said: 

As soon as the legislature [of 1871] adjourned every part of the Territory 
was visited, and appeals to aid in establishing schools under the law, which 
constituted the governor ex officio superintendent, were everywhere made. A 
desire for schools soon began to appear among the people. We had no books 
nor teachers ; all had to be procured in the older States. In the course of the 
following year, several schools were in successful operation. 

In his report for 1872 he grew enthusiastic: 

A free school has been put in operation during the present year in every 
school district where there was a sufficient number of children, and has been 
or will be in all cases continued three months, in most of the districts six 
months, and in some nine months. The board of supervisors should be com- 
pelled to levy a uniform tax for school purposes in every county. The trust 
is too sacred to leave to the discretion of three men. Before the free-school 
system was inaugurated in this Territory many doubted its practicability, and 
but few believed it could be made a success, but now all, with one accord, are 
pleased with it, and I think but little difficulty will be met in continuing and 
perfecting the system. The larger part of the children are of Mexican birth, 
and but few of them can speak the English language. They have been taught 
altogether in English, and their progress has been all that could be desired.* 

It may be of interest to summarize at this point what Prof. 
McCrea has to say on the results of this law. His opinion is of the 
more value because he was for years a part of the movement of 
which he wrote. 

In his opinion, and in this view he is dou1)tless correct, the school 
law of 1871 was the basic law of the subsequent Territorial educa- 
tional development. He has given with great clearness the steps 
which followed looking to the organization of schools : 

Immediately upon the adjournment of the assembly the governor [SafEord] 
entered upon a wonderful educational crusade. Notwithstanding the inade- 
quate means of travel, the widely scattered population, and the hostile Apaches, 

iRept. U. S. Commis. of Educ, 1871, p. 377. In June, 1871, John B. Allen, Terri- 
torial treasurer, reported that he had $519.92 to be divided among the counties (Weekly 
Miner, June 15, 1872). Money was apportioned Dec. 31, 1871, as follows: 

Pima County 503 children $695. 23 

Yuma County 364 children 419. 66 

Maricopa County 94 children 108.38 

Yavapai County 211 children 243.28 



Total 1, 466. 55 

The Weelsly Miner of Jan. 2, 1872, in commenting on these figures, claims that Pima 
had too much and the others too little. It was reported in the Miner on July 1, 1871, 
that Yavapai had a county school rate of 10 cents and a Territorial rate of 10 cents. 
=> Rept. of U. S. Commis. of Educ, 1876, p. 432. 
»Ibid., 1872, p. 365. 



24 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

every part of the Territory was visited, and every effort was made to en- 
courage tlie people to organize public schools under the new law. A desire for 
schools began to appear among the people, and under the able leadership of 
this masterful man the good work was at last begun. There were no teachers 
and no school books, except the few brought in by the governor some months 
before. All had to be procured in the older States.^ In his labors he was ably 
seconded by the probate judgete of the respective counties whom he had named 
to assist him in this important work. 

As Gov. Safford pointed out, when the legislature of 1873 as- 
sembled, the school sentiment had grown so strong that members 
came generally fully instructed to strengthen the system to the ex- 
tent of their power. But, on the other hand, McCrea has shown in 
his study that, while the legislature was willing to do a great deal 
for the schools, they wanted to do it in their own way and had not yet 
learned that the governor knew the needs of the schools far better 
than they could know them.^ 

It was clearly the purpose of the governor to see to it that no fail- 
ure could be rightly charged to him. In his message to the legis- 
lature, in 1873, he says: 

It is a source of pride and satisfaction to me, with all the obstacles, that so 
good a commencement has been made. Free schools have been taught, during 
the past year, in every school district in the Territory for at least three months. 
The advancement by the pupils has been extraordinary, and the sentiment of 
the people has become interested and cemented into a determination to make 
almost any sacrifices to educate the rising generation. No officer interested with 
putting the school law into operation has yet received any compensation for 
his services ; so that every dollar raised for school purposes has been applied 
to furnishing schoolrooms, the purchase of books, and payment of teachers. In 
many instances the establishment of schools was delayed for the want of books 
and teachers ; and the almost entire lack of schoolhouses has been a serious 
embarrassment. 

Since there remained a surplus of more than $17,000 in the Ter- 
ritorial treasury after paying all debts, the governor suggested that 
$5,000 be divided among the counties for the erection and improve- 
ment of schoolhouses, provided that the districts raised twice the 
sum for the same purpose. This wise proposal was rejected. He 
suggested also that $5,000 be transferred from the general to the 
school fund to be distributed to the counties under the law. This sum 
was so appropriated, but was ordered to be divided equally among 
the counties,^ as was a further sum of $1,500 which was appropriated 
" for the benefit of the public schools," * except that the share assigned 

ilvison, Blakeman & Co., of New York, donated in 1872 several thousand school 
books to the Territory, -while A. L. Bancroft & Co. secured the contract to furnish 
school books up to 1879. See Tucson Public School Report, 1893-94, p. 26. 

2 Arizona Report, 1908, p. 87. 

» Sess. Laws, 1873, pp. 93, 94. 

* Ibid., pp. 25, 26. 



ADMINISTEATTON OP GOVERlSrOR SAFPORD. 25 

by this act to Pima County was ordered to be paid to the Sisters of 
St. Joseph in Tucson.^ 

The school law of 1871 had provided that the county school tax 
should be " not to exceed " 50 cents on the hundred, but experience led 
Gov. Safford in 1873 to recommend a uniform tax rate in all the 
counties for school purposes. He then inaugurated also the move- 
ment looking toward compulsory attendance. The legislature of 
1874, for its part, while doing some things that were of service, did 
others that were reactionary. With the new and excellent provisions 
for a Territorial school tax of 25 cents on each $100 of valuation and 
a uniform county school tax of the same amount,^ was linked the 
repeal of all sections of the law apportioning school money accord- 
ing to attendance, and thus the one powerful incentive for building 
up attendance was removed.^ 

The county probate judges as ex officio county school superin- 
tendents were also relieved from the requirement to visit the schools, 
but the $100 given under the act of 1871 for expenses was retained as 
salary.* Of this phase of educational development McCrea remarks : * 

Wltli this amendment begins the agitation of the probate judges to secure 
legislation to increase their emoluments for work as school superintendents 
without increasing their duties to any corresponding extent. These officers 
were also most unwisely given the authority to select textbooks for their 
respective counties.' 

Gov. Safford says that the schools flourished from 1873 to 1875 
" to the entire satisfaction of all interested." Statistics in somewhat 
detailed form are given by him in his reports to the Commissioner of 
Education, and they show for the most part a steady development 
and a growth that promised well for the future. It was believed 
that there would be revenue enough to maintain free schools in each 
of the districts for six months in the year, and under date of August 

i The act provided that this grant was to be made in case that " Territorial warrant 
No. 388, drawn on the 17th day of October, 1872, for $300, in favor of the ' Sisters 
of St. Joseph,' shall be first surrendered and canceled without payment." See acts 
of 1873, pp. 25, 26. An act of Feb. 18, 1871, had appropriated $300 to the Sisters 
of St. Joseph " who are teaching and maintaining a school for the education of young 
ladies, in the town of Tucson, to enable them to pay for the school books now in use 
in said school." The appropriation under the act of 1871 had not been paid by the 
Territorial treasurer because he believed it illegal. (Jours. Legislative Assembly, 1873, 
p. 88.) The effort was then made by the law of 1873 to charge this gift up to the 
school fund of Pima County, but it again failed, for the act of 1875 (Sess. Laws, 1875, 
p. 91) ordered that it be paid out of the general fund. 

2 Sess. Laws, 1873, pp. 64-66, sees. 1 and 2. 

» Sess. Laws, 1873, pars. 6 and 16, pp. 65, 66. See also McCrea in Superintendent's 
Report, 1908, p. 87. Girls seem to have been admitted to the Tucson schools now for 
the first time. See McCrea, op. cit., p. 89. 

* Sess. Laws, 1873, par. 15, p. 66. 

« Arizona Report for 1908, p. 88. 

•Sess. Laws, 1873, par. 31, p. 66. 



26 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

30, 1873, he wrote that arrangements had been made to open a free 
school in every district in the following October. He urged the 
necessity of keeping all religious instruction out of the schools and 
concluded by saying : 

After four years' incessant labor I have succeeded in obtaining means, books, 
and teacliers for excellent schools, so that every child within the Territory may 
obtain an education. While I remain in office our free schools will be kept 
open, and I shall endeavor at the next session of the legislature to make educa- 
tion compulsory. 

Again he says : 

Without books, schoolhouses, or teachers to commence with, in less than two 
years the free-school system has been fairly and successfully put in operation 
throughout the Territory. 

McCrea has given some additional information on the difficulties 
encountered which is worthy of quotation here :^ 

In the various communications made by Gov. Safford to the Commissioner of 
Education during 1873 we learn something of the difficulties under which he 
labored, the patience and persistence he displayed, and the wonderful success 
which began to reward his efforts. The work undertaken was enough to 
daunt anyone not possessed of a heroic soul. The Territorial census of 1872 
showed a population of but 10,743, and these were scattered over a rough and 
barren country about as large as New York and all New England. Most of 
the people spoke ^n alien language to which they were much attached. There 
were few opportunities for profitable employment. Supplies must be brought 
a thousand miles from California and were very costly. The effort to subdue 
a wilderness such a.s they lived in was enough for any people, without being 
subjected to the barbarity of the unspeakable Apaches. With so many varied 
duties pressing upon him, it is remarkable that the governor could find time to 
devote to educational improvement, and yet he became familiar with all the 
details of the work. 

Fortunately there is a contemporary witness who has given his 
testimony to the same effect. John Wasson, surveyor general, said 
in his newspaper, the Arizona Citizen, on May 14, 1874 : 

Less than two years ago the free-school system was started in Arizona, with- 
out schoolhouses, books, or teachers. It seemed a forlorn hope for the poor 
Apache-ridden people to provide for the education of the children under such 
adverse conditions, but the same undaunted spirit that had faced death and 
torture through a long series of years said, " We must either have schools or 
more jails, and we prefer the former " ; and the result shows that people can 
do if they will. Yuma has a good schoolhouse, neatly furnished, and one 
will soon be erected at Ehrenberg. We are assured that Mohave County will 
erect schoolhouses as fast as required. The people of Prescott are now con- 
structing a schoolhouse that will be a credit to the town and Territory. A 
schoolhouse was built below Phoenix, in Maricopa County, last year, and now 
the people of Phoenix are making arrangements and already have the neces- 
sary subscriptions to build one worthy of that enterprising and growing town. 
A schoolhouse is in process of construction at Florence in every way suitable 

1 Arizona School Report for 1908, pp. 90-92. 



ADMIinSTEATION" OF GOVERlSrOE SAFFOED. 27 

for the purpose. The people of Tucson are determined not to be outdone by 
their young neiglibors, and are now making arrangements to build a house 
with sufficient capacity to accommodate 200 pupils, and we trust that the San- 
ford [SafEord?] and San Pedro settlements will not be behind in the good work. 
But the most encouraging feature of all is that our late legislature made pro- 
vision for sufficient school revenue to keep free schools in operation in every 
school district in the Territory for from six to nine months during each year. 
With these advantages the poorest children of the Territory are provided with 
ample opportunities for an education, and if in after years they do not make 
useful men and women, it will be their own and not the fault of the Territory. 

Continuing his remarks in this connection, Mr. Wasson says 
further : 

We think it but right that credit should be awarded to the man whose per- 
sistent efforts have brought about the present interest in education. * * * 
We refer to Gov. A. P. K. SafEord, who has worked night and day and traveled 
all over Arizona in this cause. We know that the people of the Territory will 
second what we say.^ 

Such was contemporary and hiter opinion on the school work of 
Gov. Safford. It seems that with him the schools became almost a 
religion, for the unknown writer on the history of the public schools 
in 1894 credits him with using as a school motto : 

The school first, the church second ; no person can well understand and fulfill 
his obligations to God and to country without education.^ 

II. THE SITUATION IN 18 75. 

Gov. Safford's message to the legislature in 1875 was intended to 
advance still further the program already entered on and was couched 
in much the same noble and inspiring terms : 

Under the present school law the free-school system has been made a success, 
and the means are afforded by which every child in this Territory can obtain 
the rudiments of an education. But a trifling sum is paid to officers for their 
services, and nearly the entire revenues are applied to the maintenance of 
schools. Great care should be taken to preserve the same economy now prac- 
ticed In the disbursement of this fund, and radical changes in a law that has 
worked well should always be avoided. It is a subject of pride to every citizen 
that with all the difficulties we have encountered — amid poverty, death, and 
desolation, occasioned by our savage foes — the people, with great unanimity, 
have provided the necessary means to educate the rising generation, and upon 
no other subject are they so thoroughly united. 

The legislature of 1875 made an extensive revision of the school 
act, but without changing its general essentials. The rate of Terri- 
torial school taxation was now fixed at 15 cents per hundred as 
against 10 cents in the act of 1871 and 25 cents in the act of 1873. 
The county school tax was fixed at 35 cents on the hundred as against 
50 cents in 1871 and 25 cents in 1873; the pay of the county super- 

1 From Kept. U. S. Commis. of Bduc, 1S75, p. 469. 

2 Tucson Public School Report, 1893-94, p. 26. 



28 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

intendents was continued at $100 per year. The law of 1875 pro- 
vided also that a county board, of which the county superintendent 
was to be the chairman, be appointed " for the purpose of examining 
applicants and granting certificates of qualification to teachers " 
covering spelling, reading, grammar, arithmetic, geography, physi- 
ology, " and such other studies as may be by said board deemed 
necessary." ^ 

Under the recommendations of Gov. Safford the first compulsory 
school act was passed in 1875. ^ It was, however, a mild one. It 
required children between 8 and 14 to attend a public school for 
at least 16 weeks in each school year, but there were numerous ex- 
emptions. They might be taught in private schools or at home, and 
were released from the obligation to attend if they lived more than 
2 miles from the schoolhouse. As a matter of fact, the children 
were generally as willing to attend school as the people were to fur- 
nish schoolhouses. It was sometimes even impossible to enforce the 
act because of the lack of accommodations. 

The most successful years of this period, the time when the schools 
reached their high-water mark, was in 1875 and 1876.^ 

The actual accomplishments of the schools during that time, as 
reported by Gov. Safford, show that there were 2,508 children of 
school age in the first of these years and 2,955 in the second. The 
enrollment was 568 and 1,213, respectively. Men still predominated 
as teachers, and in 1876 received on an average $110 per month of 
28 days ; for the same period women averaged $90. In 1875 the State 
tax produced $4,690, the local tax $9,232, and other funds $14,837, 
making a total of $28,760; in 1875-76 the total was $31,449. In 
1875 the total expenses were $24,152 ; in 1876, $28,744. One school- 
house was erected in Prescott, costing $17,339.30; one was built in 
Tucson out of private contributions costing $9,781.96. It was 
thought — 

that very nearly 50 per cent of the children in the Territory can now read and 
write. Every district in which there are sufficient children is supplied with 
a good free school. Many schoolhouses have been erected that would do credit 
to the older States. Considering the short time schools have been established 
and the many obstacles they have had to overcome, the situation, it is thought, 
is very encouraging.* 

The relations of church and state had not yet been definitely set- 
tled, however. So earnest was Gov. Safford in his effort to main- 

» Sess. Laws, 1875, pp. 80-90. 

*Sess. Laws, 1875, pp. 40-42. 

« See reports of Gov. Safford to the United States Commissioner of Education and 
printed in his reports as follows: 1870, p. 318; 1871, p. 377; 1872, pp. 365-366; 
1873, pp. 425-428 ; 1874, pp. 461-462 ; 1875, pp. 467-469 ; 1876, pp. 431-433 ; 1877, 
p. 275. The Commissioner of Education gives these years as running for 1874-75 and 
1S75-76, but Gov. Safford rppeats them as of January to December, 1875 and 1876. 

* Rept. U. S. Commis. of Educ, 1876, pp. 431-432. See also Gov. Safford's annual re- 
ports on the schools for 1875 and 1876 (Tucson, 1877). 



ADMINISTEATTON OF GOVERNOR SAFFORD. 29 

tain their separation that he even proposed that the law of exemp- 
tions be changed and that church property, except such as was used 
for schools and hospitals, be subject to taxation/ 

The setting in which Gov. Safford found himself shows that his 
exhortation against sectarian influence was not out of place. The 
Territory had celebrated its entrance on responsibility by giving 
public funds to a church institution, and in 1875 an effort to divide 
the public funds in the same manner had been defeated, not without 
effort. Says McCrea:* 

In regard to the final settlement of the question we have this statement of 
the governor: "At this session (1875) an attempt was made to divide the 
school fund for the benefit of sectarian schools. The measure, though ardently 
supported by the chief justice of the Territory (Judge E. F. Dunne), was 
defeated by a large majority in the legislature." ' Of this struggle, fraught 
with so much of good or ill for the future of the schools, not a word is recorded 
in the journals of the assembly that settled it. Happily for Arizona, it was 
settled right, though that Territory then and there parted from New Mexico in 
educational policy. 

Gov. Safford resigned his office in April, 1877, on account of ill 
health, and ceased to be superintendent of public schools. But to 
this interest he was true to the end. To the legislature of 1877 he 
said, in review of the past and in exhortation for the future : 

The education of the rising generation has kept steady pace with the increase 
of population and wealth. This is a very marked and gratifying decline in 
illiteracy, and from the present efiiciency and prosperity of the school system a 
continued or ever [sic] greater decline in illiteracy may confidently be ex- 
pected. This large increase of revenue has been found necessary to supply 
the constant demand for new schools, the number of these having increased 
from 9, as reported two years ago, to 19. It is believed that the revenue referred 
to will be formd sufficient to maintain the school system and provide for the 
constantly increasing demands upon it. After watching carefully the present 
school law during the past two years, I am of the opinion that in the main it 
meets the requirements as well as any law that can be devised. School laws, 
of all others, should be changed as seldom as possible. 

Then follows an exhortation to guard the school as a " sacred 
trust " and to keep it " free from sectarian or political influences," 
for — 

to surrender this system and yield to a division of the school fund upon sec- 
tarian grounds could only result in the destruction of the general plan for the 

1 Jours. Ninth Legislative Assembly, 1877, p. 44. 

2McCrea, in Long's Report for 1907-8, pp. 95-96. 

3 Judge Dunne's address was entitled : " Our Public Schools : Are They Free or Are 
They Not?" It was delivered in the hall of the House of Representatives in February, 
1875, and was first published in the San Francisco Monitor and in the New York 
Freeman's Journal. It was then republished in pamphlet form (New York, 1875, 
O.. pp. 32). As a result of his arguments, the introduction states that "a hill was 
introduced in the legislature providing for corporate schools such as Catholics desire. 
It came within one vote of passing in the council." In this lecture Judge Dunne also 
opposed compulsory-attendance laws. In both cases he based his arguments on the 
right of individual liberty. 



30 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ABIZONA. 

education of the masses, and would lead, as it always has wherever tried, to 
the education of the few and the ignorance of the many.* 

The legislature of 1877 was mindful of the governor's injunction 
against too much legislative tinkering; only a single school law was 
passed this session, and it provided for a school census once in two 
years and required the district trustees to make full reports. The 
school year was now to begin on December 16; 5 days were made a 
week and 20 days a month, and no school might receive any benefits 
under the act unless its teachers had been " duly examined, approved, 
and employed by legal authority." ^ 

But the heyday of the schools had passed for a time; the guiding 
hand was being removed. Gov. Safford was succeeded by Gov. John 
P. Hoyt, who was compiling a code for the Territory and had other 
interests, and the schools soon showed the ill effects. In 1876-77 Gov. 
Hoyt could report only 903 pupils in school, as against 1,213 for the 
previous year, with an average attendance of 580 against 900. The 
schools had increased from 21 to 28, the teachers from 21 to 31, the 
length of term to 190 days, but the pay of men teachers had fallen 
from $110 to $100 and that of women from $90 to $50. This was in 
keeping with income and expenditure; the former had decreased 
from $31,449 to $20,708; the latter from $28,744 to $18,407.^ 

m. PROGRESS UP TO 1S79 BEGINNINGS IN THE CITIES. 

The year 1877 m^y be counted as something of an era in Arizona. 
Gov. Safford left the Territory in a prosperous condition. The 
Indians had in the main been pa6ified, although outbreaks occurred 
after this date; the railroad was coming in from the west; many 
rich mines were being discovered, and prospectors were swarming 
into the Territory; since there was safety from the Indians, stock- 
men were bringing in herds of cattle and sheep to graze on fresh 
pastm'es, and the export, and import trade was growing rapidly. 
The section north of the Gila received the bulk of this immigra- 
tion, and this change in the balance of power was signalized by the 
removal of the capital from Tucson back to Prescott. At this date 
Mexican representation in the assembly practically ceased. In mat- 
ters of education also a change was coming; on the one hand, a re- 
action had set in, but this was not clearly apparent till the guiding 
spirit of Gov. Safford was removed; on the other hand, the larger 
schools, like that at Prescott which had hitherto paid all its ex- 
penses as it went, now discounted the future by selling bonds to meet 
the cost of building schoolhouses. 

1 See Jours. Ninth Legislative Assembly, Arizona, 1877, pp. 30-32. 

» Sess. Laws, 1877, ch. 20, pp. 14, 15. 

» Rept. U. S. Commis. of Educ, 1877, p. 275. 



ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOE SAFPORD. 31 

Having summarized statistically the educational progress made 
throughout the Territory under the administration of Gov. Safford 
up to his resignation in 1877, it may be of interest to say a word on 
the particular centers in which school work was then best developed, 
giving some notice also of the leading teachers, for whatever there 
was of local, as well as of Territorial school growth, was due in the 
main to the enthusiasm of Gov. Safford. 

It appears that the first general survey of the school facilities of 
the Territory was made in 1874. In that year there was issued, 
under the direction of the legislature, a brief history and summary 
of " The Territory of Arizona," compiled by Gov. Safford.^ That 
pamphlet shows the school development of each town, and indicates 
further that the public school entered upon a field entirely unoccupied 
by private enterprise : 

Phoenix. — ^A good schoolhouse has been erected here, and a most 
excellent free school is now being taught and is attended by about 
40 pupils. Six miles below, another school district has been or- 
ganized and a schoolhouse erected. A free school has been open in 
this district four months during the year. 

Florence. — The inhabitants have just completed a good school- 
house, and a free school is now open, which is attended by about 40 
pupils. 

Cerbat. — A free school has been open in this place during six 
months of the year. 

Tucson. — There are two public free schools in successful operation 
in charge of able and experienced teachers. The daily average 
attendance is about 75, and the number is constantly increasing. 

Prescott. — A good public free school is now in operation in charge 
of a most excellent teacher ; the daily average attendance is about 40, 
and a good schoolhouse has been erected at a cost of $2,000. 

Arizona City.— A. good schoolhouse has been erected and a free 
public school in charge of an experienced teacher is now being taught. 
The number of children requires another teacher, and one has already 
been engaged. 

Ehrenberg. — A free school has been open in this place three months 
during the present year, and it is anticipated that it will be kept 
open at least six months during the year to^come. McCrea says 
that this school was opened in 1872 by Miss Mary E. Post, of Yuma. 

In 1879 Col. Hodge made a record of all the schools of the Terri- 
tory. There were then public schools at Yuma and Ehrenberg, Min- 
eral Park, Cerbat, Prescott, Williamson Valley, Verde, Walnut 
Creek, Walnut Grove, Chino Valley, Kirkland Valley, Peeples Val- 
ley, Wickenburg, Phoenix, Florence, Tucson, Tres Alamos (on the 

* Safford, A. P. K. : The Territory of Arizona ; a brief history and summary. Tucson, 
1874, pp. 6-10. 



32 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

San Pedro), Safford, and a few other points. There were Catholic 
schools at Yuma and Tucson, and Indian schools had been estab- 
lished by the Federal Government at San Carlos and Sacaton.^ 

The opening of the public schools in the various towns in the 
Territory, according to McCrea, McClintock, and the school reports 
on which these later writers are based, may be summarized briefly 
for convenience.^ 

Apparently the oldest schools in the Territory, both in the matter 
of actual age and in that of practical continuity, are those of Tucson. 

McCrea says: 

Under the law of 1868 or, as some claim, by private subscription, a public 
school was opened at Tucson, probably the first in the Territory, in the spring 
of 1869, by Augustus Brichta. The school term lasted six months, for two of 
which Mr. Brichta never received any pay, and 55 Mexican boys were enrolled. 
The school room was 25 by 40 feet, with a dirt roof and a dirt floor and no 
furniture except a few rudely constructed benches. The teacher found it 
difficult to obtain schoolbooks. There were no geographies in the school, and 
the pupils relied solely on the teacher for a knowledge of the earth beyond 
what they could see of it. Mr. Brichta was a man of character and ability and 
of prominence as a clerk in the legislative assembly, both before and after 
his experience as a schoolmaster in the Old Pueblo. 

Apparently the next school in Tucson was that of John Spring, 
which was opened early in March, 1871. Of this school McCrea 
remarks : 

The term continued for 15 months, and 33S boys were enrolled, most of whom 
were Mexicans. The attendance for the term was excellent, reaching 78 per 
cent of the enrollment. 

Few of the pupils knew any English, an<l the teacher had to go over their 
lessons with them in Spanish before trying to teach them in English. A few 
of the older pupils had attended school for brief periods in Mexico or had 
received a little private instruction. The entire 138 seem to have been present 
by the third day. How one teacher could handle so many can be explained 
only by their known gentleness of nature, their general willingness to obey, and 
the constant support of the teacher's authority by the parents. 

The school facilities were of the most primitive character. The schoolroom 
was a long adobe structure with dirt roof and dirt floor and homemade benches 
and desks in one piece, notable in no way except for solidity and liability to 
shed splinters. 

It took much tact and persistence on the part of the teacher to break up 
truancy and keep tardiness within bounds and to induce pupils to "put in their 
appearance washed, combed, and brushed." The process was accelerated by 
reporting truancy to all parents and by the teacher taking some of the negli- 
gent boys to the school well and assisting them in their morning ablutions. 

Gov. Safford showed his interest in this educational experiment in his capital 
in various ways. He presented the school with two dozen Ollendorf's Gram- 
mars, which were very useful for the more advanced class. Mr. Spring does 
not fail to pay a hearty tribute to the man who made the school possible. He 

* McClintock, James H. : History of Arizona, II, p. 497. 

" See McClintock, James H. : History of Arizona, II, 496, 567, 590 ; McCrea, passim, 
and superintendent's report for 1881, pp. 38-44. 



ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR SAFFORD. 33 

says : " In conclusion I beg leave to say that all my hard work was made lighter 
and all my efforts were made more efficient by the constant kind help and 
advice of Gov. A. P. K. Safford, whose memory this and all future generations 
should forever revere as ' Father of Our Public Schools.' " ^ 

The next heard of the Tucson schools was in the summer of 18T2, 
when a girls' school, which later became a part of the public-school 
system, was opened by Mrs. L. C. Hughes, wife of the probate judge 
of Pima County, who later became governor of the Territory. On 
February 4, 1873, this school received an official visit from the legis- 
lature, and during that year Gov. Safford, seeing that the schools had 
been carried on at irregular periods and by persons who had other 
vocations than teaching, and seeing, according to McCrea— 

the great need of trained and experienced teachers and of continuity of effort, 
determined to secure such teachers for the schools of Tucson, if possible, and 
then to see that the schools were carried on for a fixed term each year. 
Through Surveyor General Wasson he got into communication with Miss Maria 
Wakefield, a teacher in the schools of Stockton, Cal., and was able to persuade 
her and a companion, Miss Harriet Bolton, to attempt the trip to the new land 
of promise. I have been able to secure an account both of their journey and 
their reception at Tucson from the daughter of Mrs. E. N. Pish, formerly 
Miss Wakefield, which account is approved by her mother and is given herewith : 

" In 1873 my mother was teaching in the public schools of Stockton, Cal., 
when she received a letter from Gov. Safford asking her to come to Tucson, 
bringing a competent primary teacher with her, to open the public school. 
This letter also advised them to start immediately, as the Apaches were then 
in the eastern part of the Territory and travel was comparatively safe. Accord- 
ingly, on October 26, they left Stockton for San Prancigco, where they took a 
steamer for San Diego. Prom there, after five days and nights of continuous 
stage riding, the longest stop being 20 minutes to change horses and partake of 
the wretched food provided at the stations, they arrived in Tucson. Pew can 
realize the terrors of such a journey, with the bright moonlight transforming 
every giant cactus into an armed Apache and every clump of brush into an 
ambush. Each driver contributed a new lot of stories of the horrible deeds of 
the Indians, pointing out here and there along the way where this freight train 
was captured and the men murdered, and that stage taken, and that family 
massacred, keeping those two terror-stricken women constantly, by day and 
night, on the lookout for Apaches. They did not then know that Apaches do 
not attack by night. 

" The good people of Tucson had arranged two very comfortable rooms for 
them. Gov. Safford and his good friend, Surveyor General Wasson, left nothing 
undone to assist in the difficult task of establishing a public school. The 
priests were bitter in their denunciations, and were formidable antagonists, 
even going so far as to threaten parents if they allowed their children to attend 
the public school. Gov. Safford was generous almost beyond his salary in giving 
books and clothes to needy children to enable them to attend school. Above all, 
the one great desire of Gov. Safford's heart was the welfare of the public 
school." * * * 

* Superintendent's Report, Arizona, 1908, pp. 86—87. See also historical sketch In 
Tucson Public School Report, 1893-94, pp. 30-32. Under date of June 17, 1872, Gov. 
Safford sent $30 to the school trustees of Prescott as a gift from his brother, A. B. 
Safford, of Cain, HI., " to help build " a schoolhouse there. Arizona Miner, July 20, 
1872. 

61563°— 18 ^8 



34 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

The success of the schools during this period was marked. One teacher had 
charge of the boys, the other of the girls, in separate rooms. There was au 
average attendance of 50 boys and 2.5 girls. Nor did those teachers lose their 
interest in education when they left the schoolroom, for not long after we find 
one of them a leader in a successful effort to supply the town with a much- 
needed school building, and we may be sure the other heartily seconded her 
efforts. 

This effort grew directly out of the struggle in 1875 over the ques- 
tion of State support of sectarian schools. After this question had 
been definitely settled the need for better school facilities was more 
keenly realized. The effort to secure a better public-school building 
in Tucson has been graphically told by McCrea : 

Nothing was more characteristic of this assembly [1875] than the following 
resolution, offered by Hon. S. R. De Long, of Tucson, and readily adopted by 
the council of January 15, 1875 ; " Resolved, That the use of this hall is hereby 
offered to the ladies of Tucson who propose giving a social party on Thursday 
evening next, 21st instant, for the purpose of raising funds to be appropriated to 
the building of a public schoolhouse." The party was duly given and was so 
well managed by the ladies in charge, Mrs. Lord and Mrs. Fish, that $1,300 
was realized from it. A second dancing party netted $1,100, and a third $1,000. 
It is said that at one of the parties given a cake was sold and resold until the 
proceeds from the sale reached more than $200. This money was turned over 
to the school board, composed of Estevan Ochoa, R. N. Leatherwood, and 
Samuel Hughes. Mr. Ochoa either donated, or sold at a nominal figure, the 
lot needed. The lumber used in the great porch in front was donated by the 
Army ofl^cers at Fort Grant and was hauled free of charge by the teams of 
Tully and Ochoa more than 100 miles. At last the Congress Street building, 
an adobe structure of three rooms, was completed at a cost of $9,782 and was 
for a brief time the best school building in Arizona. 

Of the later history of the Tucson schools, Prof. McCrea con- 
tinues : 

In the fall of 1874 Prof. W. B. Horton, who was a Scotchman by birth and a 
graduate of a college of Edinburgh, was elected principal of the Tucson Public 
School.* During the first year he was supplied with two assistants, one to 
teach the girls and one to aid him in teaching the boys. The schools greatly 
prospered under his management. Although he began school work in Arizona 
later than Prof. Sherman, he is worthy in every way to be ranked with him. 
For the next five years he continued to demonstrate the value of the public 
school as a civilizing agency, under circumstances far less favorable than were 
then supplied at Prescott. 

Prof. Horton remained at Tuscon for more than six years, being 
succeeded in February, 1881, by George C. Hall,^ who says that 
Horton was the real founder of the public schools there. Prof. Hall 
adds: 

To his hands was committed a difficult task, and to properly estimate the 
value of his work one should understand and appreciate the obstacles and diflS- 

* So says McCrea. Ex-Supt. Long says that the statement as to Horton's birth and 
education is an error, and that he was a native of Georgia. 

2 Hall served from 1881 to 1884. For list of later superintendents see Tucson Public 
School Eep»rts, 1893-94, p. 32. 



ADMINISTEATION OP GOVERNOR SAFFORD. 35 

culties with which he had to contend in conducting a cosmopolitan school in 
which there was more or less race prejudice and where, in the minds of certain 
members of the community at large, there existed an unfavorable opinion of our 
public system of instruction. The instability of society, incident to all frontier 
cities, and the rude appliances with which he began his work were further 
obstacles. Many young men of this city and other places in the Territory owe 
to him all that makes them useful members of society. Six years' faithful 
service in the schools of a city should entitle a teacher to the gratitude of its 
people. 

Gov. Safford mentions a school as being taught in Prescott as early 
as 1870 by S. C. Eogers, but nothing is known of its subsequent his- 
tory. Of education in Prescott Prof, McCrea says : 

Having set the schools of Tucson in motion, the governor turned his atten- 
tion to northern Arizona. In 1873 Prescott, which was the center of a con- 
siderable American population, became much interested in education. Capable 
teachers were hard to secure. In that year Gov. Safford induced Prof. Moses 
H. Sherman to come to Prescott to be principal of the public school. It is 
claimed that the governor even borrowed and sent Prof. Sherman the money 
necessary to meet the expense of the long and costly trip from Vermont to 
Prescott. The new principal was a graduate of the New York State Normal 
School at Oswego, and proved a most successful teacher. Under his manage- 
ment was inaugurated the first graded school in Arizona. The school grew so 
rapidly that a new and better building was demanded. The work of raising 
funds by popular subscription — the only method available — ^began in 1874, and 
the building, which was a fine two-story brick, was completed in 1876, costing, 
when fully furnished, more than $17,000, and capable of seating 200 pupils. 
In providing this building, by far the best in the Territory for several years to 
come, the Prescott people found themselves in debt, and the school district 
officials thought best to ask the legislative assembly for authority to issue 
bonds to meet the remaining indebtedness. 

The first public school was opened in Phoenix, September 5, 1872, 
by J. D. Daroche. This school was located on the present First 
Avenue, just south of Washington Street. Later a little adobe build- 
ing was erected on North Center Street and served as the permanent 
school home for some years. The salary of the first teachers, of 
whom there was a rapid succession, was $100 per month. The head 
of the school in 1879-80 was Robert L. Long, later State superin- 
tendent. 

The first school was opened in Tombstone in February, 1880, by 
Miss Lucas, " in a little room with a dirt floor and a mud roof. Nine 
was the number of pupils in attendance the first day, which was in- 
creased to about 40 before the close of the term. Miss Lucas was 
succeeded by Miss McFarland. The school grew with the grow- 
ing town." The trustees began the erection of a school building, 
50 by 30 feet, which was ready in January, 1881. A second teacher 
was employed, and the enrollment that year reached 128, with an 
average attendance of 83.^ 

* Superintendent's Report for 1S81, pp. 40-42. 



36 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

McCrea reports (p. 92) schools in Florence, SaflFord, Ehrenberg, 
Yuma, and other towns in 1873. In 1879 the schools of Florence were 
said to be in a flourishing condition.^ 

The first schoolhouse in Globe was built in 1880 in the southern 
part of what was then the camp and was placed in charge of G. J. 
Scanlan.^ 

So much for the development of the schools in separate centers in 
the Territory, Although evolved under a Territorial law, there was 
as yet little unity among them, for they were largely supported by 
local funds, there was little connection with one another, and soli- 
darity of feeling had not developed. A new stage of development 
and progress began with the school law of 1879. 

It seems proper to add as a fitting close to this chapter the appre- 
ciation of Gov. Safford's work written by the first historian of educa- 
tion in Arizona. Prof. McCrea,^ in concluding his estimate of this 
period, says : 

Whatever might have been his feeling in the matter, Gov. Safford had reasons 
for being proud of his worli for education in Arizona. He was a great governor 
in many respects, but lie was gi-eatest of all in his labors for the public school. 
He had been able to lead an unwilling assembly to adopt an efficient school 
law, and to modify it only as needed. From a scanty population scattered far 
and near, and constantly harassed by the Indians, he had secured liberal appro- 
priations for schools. Though unused to American institutions, the strong 
foreign element had been won over by his wisdom and patience, and the Ameri- 
cans were glad to follow so able a leader. At the close of his work he could 
point to a score of teachers employed, and to as many schoolrooms erected by 
the voluntary contributions of the people. Since 1871 more than $120,000 had 
been raised for school purposes, yet he left the Territory to his successor prac- 
tically free of debt, a happy condition it has never since known. But of all 
the success of this period was the great heart and strong purpose of a man 
anxious to see a good start made on the work, not yet completed, of making 
good Americans of some very unpromising material through the agency of the 
public school. The idea seems to have been his religion, and right well did he 
live it. Although no school building bears his name in the town he did so much 
to rescue from oblivion, he will live in the affections of the people of the Terri- 
tory as the " Father of the Arizona Public School." 

To this high but well-deserved praise the present writer would 
give his most unqualified assent. 

iRept. U. S. Commis. of Educ, 1879. 

» Ex relatione, R. L. Long. 

•McCrea, in Long's Report for 1908, pp. 100, 101. 



Chapter IV. 

THE SUPERINTENDENT MADE AN INDEPENDENT OFFICER— ADMIN- 
ISTRATIONS OF SHERMAN AND HORTON, 1879-1885. 



As shown in an earlier chapter of this study, the development of 
the public schools began with the administration of Gov. Safford. 
He created the Arizona schools and then became the Moses to lead 
them out of the wilderness toward a better organization, with in- 
creasing appreciation of their value, growing attendance, and de- 
veloping resources. Unfortunately his work was retarded by ill 
health, so that he resigned the governorship about April, 1877, and 
was succeeded by John P. Hoyt as acting governor. Then came, on 
June 12, 1878, the appointment of John C. Fremont as governor. It 
has been said that Fremont never regarded this appointment " as 
worthy of his ability and fame," but, however regarded, the evidence 
is that Govs. Hoyt and Fremont were of little direct service in ad- 
vancing the cause of the schools. 

I. THE ACT or 1879 AND THE NEW DEVELOPMENT. 

The progress of education in Arizona during the period beginning 
about 1878 was, as McCrea points out (p. 101), more closely con- 
nected with the material development of the Territory than with the 
personnel of the officers, as had been the case during the earlier 
period. Rich mines were being discovered, and two railroads now 
traversed the Territory from east to west. These roads made its 
mines accessible, opened its resources, and led to great immigration. 
The population more than doubled in the eighties, and more people 
meant more school children, more school revenue, and of necessity 
better schools. 

The law of 1879 made it more possible to collect this increased 
revenue. This act was itself an innovation and improvement on the 
earlier school acts. Its most important change was one which pro- 
vided that a superintendent of public instruction should be appointed 
by the governor "by and with the consent of the legislative council." 
In 1880 his successor was to be elected by popular vote ; he was put 
under a $2,000 bond ; was to hold office for two years ; and received 
under this law a salary of $1,000, which in 1881 was increased to 
$2,000.1 

1 Session laws, 1881, ch. 3?. 

37 



38 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

A Territorial tax of 15 cents on the $100 was to be levied, and the 
county board of supervisors was ordered to levy a county school tax 
of not less than 50 nor more than 80 cents on the $100, which " shall 
be added to the county tax and collected in the same manner and 
paid into the county treasury as a special fund." 

The Territorial board of education was reconstituted, and was 
now made up of the superintendent as president and secretary, with 
the governor and Territorial treasurer as the other members. Their 
duties were of the same character as those of the earlier board, while 
a bid for incoming teachers was made by providing that " such pro- 
fessional teachers as may be found upon examination, or by diplomas 
from other States or Territories requiring similar qualifications, to 
possess the requisite scholarship and culture" might have their 
diplomas countersigned by the Territorial superintendent and these 
then became valid for life unless formally revoked. 

The superintendent was required, among other duties, to appor- 
tion Territorial school funds according to the number of children 
6 to 21 years of age ; he was to make an annual visit to each county 
and publish an annual report. It was made the duty of the county 
superintendent to distribute the county funds to the school districts 
in proportion to attendance during the three months previous. 

In other respects the school law remained largely as it was, except 
that the salary of the probate judges when acting as county school 
superintendents was raised from $100 to $250 per year, and in 1881 
(ch. 33) this was still further increased by dividing the counties into 
four classes according to the number of school districts and paying 
the superintendents from $250 to $1,000 per annum, according to the 
size of their territory. 

Another section of this law^ — an echo of the struggle in 1877 against 
the proposed union of church and state — was the thirty-eighth, which 
declares : 

No books, tracts, or papers of a sectarian or denominational character shall 
be used or introduced in any school established under the provisions of this act ; 
nor shall sectarian or denominational doctrine be taught therein ; nor shall any 
school whatever receive any of the public school funds which has not been 
taught in accordance with the provisions of this act. 

It is clear that this new law reorganized the school system in a 
way which looked toward greater centralization and efficiency. The 
Territorial superintendent was now a separate official, with large 
supervisory powers. The county superintendency was not yet a 
separate office, but large supervisory powers were put into the hands 
of the probate judge, if he could find time and place to exercise them, 
but under the circumstances and with the large counties this was a 
practical impossibility. 



SUPERINTENDENT MADE AN INDEPENDENT OFPICEE. 39 

In each school district there was a local board of three trustees 
who provided for, controlled, and directed the school. Each set of 
officers made a report to the next higher. The funds came from 
Territorial and county sources.^ ^hen these were insufficient to 
provide a school for three months, the local district was required to 
make up the deficit as well as provide the schoolhouse and furniture. 
In such cases anything more than the three months' term depended 
on the will of the local district, which had to be expressed by a two- 
thirds vote. This was a weak point in the system and struck the 
scattered country districts most heavily. The school term in the 
towns soon ran up in length, but those of the country schools were 
low, often perilously close to the three months' limit, or even below it. 

There was as yet no general law under which towns or school dis- 
tricts might issue bonds for use in building schoolhouses. The first 
of such issues seems to have been that of Prescott, in 1877, for $7,200, 
made under a special act.^ In 1879 similar special acts were passed 
in favor of Phoenix for $15,000,^ and Tucson for $20,000,* and in 
1883 Tombstone secured an issue for $15,000.^ 

The only other enactment of the session of 1879 bearing on edu- 
cation was one chartering the Arizona Development Co., which, 
under color of aiding "in the construction of capitol buildings 
and for the support of the public schools of the Territory," pro- 
vided for the running of a lottery in the Territory, the governor 
being made commissioner to superintend the drawings, while 10 per 
cent of the prizes distributed were to be reserved for the use of the 
Territory. It was perfectly evident, however, that the real purpose 
of this act was not to build the capitol nor to advance the schools but 
to permit the existence of a lottery.^ 

It is now desirable to follow so far as possible the fortunes of the 
schools under the act of 1879. It may be noticed at once that the 
school system so patiently and laboriously built up by Gov. Safford 
did not command the respect of Gov. Fremont sufficiently to give it 
a place in his message to the assembly, either in 1879 or 1881. McCrea 
remarks that although Gov. Fremont was a man of liberal educa- 
tion "he exhibited but little interest in the question of schools in 
Arizona." McCrea found but one reference by Fremont to the school 

1 Ch. 45, 1879, provided that one-half the money collected on licenses for gambling, 
other than village licenses, should go to the county school fund. The school act of 
1883 gave all " fines, forfeitures, and gambling licenses " to the county school fund, 
except such as were collected in incorporated towns and villages. Escheats under this 
act went to the Territorial school fund, 

» Session Laws, 1877, ch. 37. 

8 Session Laws, 1879, ch. 17. 

*Ibid., ch. 25. 

» Session Laws, 1883, ch. 13. 

8 Session Laws, 1879, ch. 16. It was repealed by Session Laws, 1881, ch. 20. A vigor- 
ous effort was made in 1887 to reenact a similar law, but it was defeated by the veto of 
Gov. Zulick. See Council Jour., 1887, pp. 199-203. 



40 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

system, which he then generously characterized as being in " admir- 
able condition." 

U. SHERMAN BECOMES THE FIRST INDEPENDENT TERRITORIAL SUPERIN- 
TENDENT. 

Closely following his own accession to office, and within a few 
days after the enactment of the law of February 14, 1879, Gov. Fre- 
mont appointed Prof. Moses H. Sherman as his representative to 
take over the work of the Territorial school superintendent, which, 
in earlier years, had been performed by the governor himself ^ — for 
the purpose of the act of 1871 had been to add this school supervision 
to the duties of the governor, with no extra pay except an allowance 
of $500 for traveling. The governor was now relieved of the duty, 
and the $500 allowed him for expenses was given to his successor as 
salary. Prof. Sherman was a trained school man; he had been for 
five years at the head of the Prescott schools, was already at the 
head of his profession in Arizona, and his entrance on the Terri- 
torial superintendency was recognized as an advance by the United 
States Commissioner of Education, who said in his report for 1878 
(p. 268) : 

Even the few statistics received show the advantage of having a superin- 
tendent who can give his whole attention to school work, as was the case for 
the first time in 1878. 

Prof. Sherman's term of office extended from February, 1879, to 
January 11, 1881, and was continued — by a popular election, in 
1880 — from January, 1881, to January, 1883. During these years 
Supt. Sherman did not, however, devote all of his time to Territorial 
education. He remained principal of the schools of Prescott, and he 
gave to the Territorial schools such time only as he could spare from 
his local school duties. Certainly Territorial duties were of less im- 
portance from the financial side, and it has been said even that the 
Territorial superintendency was during this administration little 
more than a sinecure. 

McCrea remarks that the duties of the Territorial superintend- 
ency "were mainly of a clerical nature;" and, therefore, that Supt. 
Sherman was not compelled to relinquish his position as principal 
of the public schools of Prescott, but continued to serve both the 
town and the Territory until 1883. McCrea believed that Supt. Sher- 
man's " reputation for efficient work for educational interests in Ari- 
zona would no doubt have been greater had he confined his services 
to one or the other, instead of trying to serve both." The Territorial 
work lasij have been made clerical from choice, but was not so from 

1 There are indications that Sherman liad acted in this capacity before his formal 
appointment, but ex-Supt. Long thinks that this was not the case. 



ADMINISTRATION OP GOVERNOR SAFFORD. 41 

necessity. There was sufficient authority under the law of 1879, for 
the superintendent to travel throughout the Territory and to super- 
vise not in name and form merely, but in reality. 

Indeed, the progress, which was soon apparent, following the ap- 
pointment of Sherman, seems to prove that there was at least some 
supervision, for the slump of 1876-77 was soon overcome, and as 
early as 1877-78, the superintendent could show that the schools were 
already on the upward grade. In the latter year he reported 3,089 
youth of school age, of whom 2,740 were enrolled, giving a percent- 
age of 88, although the average daily attendance was put down at 
890, or 32 per cent of the enrollment. The length of the term was 
124 days, as against 190 for 1876-77; the teachers numbered 37 as 
against 31 ; the pay of the men fell from $100 per month to $91 ; but 
that of the women rose from $50 to $74. The total expenditures 
equaled the total income, which was $21,396. 

If comparison should be made of the school situation in 1873 and 
1880, great progress would be noted. The school enumeration was 
4 times as great, the enrollment 10 times, and school property 16 
times. Schoolrooms had increased from 11 to 101, and teachers 
from 14 to 101, but salaries had fallen from $100 per month to $83 
for men and to $70 for women. 

Of Sherman's work for the Territorial schools, McCrea continues: 

The new superintendent of public instruction entered upon tiis duties with 
energy and enthusiasm, and the schools in the next two years showed a wonder- 
ful growth. It is difficult to say what part of this was due to the efforts of 
the superintendent and what part was the result of the favorable Industrial 
conditions in Arizona and the considerable immigration into the Territory. 

In 1880 the favorable report of the year before was improved upon in most 
particulars. Though the number of pupils seeking to attend school was far 
greater than the accommodations afCorded, no effort was made to enforce the 
compulsory law. The short school terms in many of the schools seriously inter- 
fered with their usefulness. Most of the town schools were taught from 150 
to 200 days, while the county school terms seldom exceeded 100 days, and were 
sometimes as brief as 40 days. The lack of sufficient funds in the rural schools, 
and the too frequent changes of teachers and of the county superintendents, 
were reported by the superintendent to be the greatest obstacles in the way of 
the progress of the public schools. 

It will be recalled that while public lands had been set aside by Con- 
gress for the endowment of the schools when th^ Territory became a 
State, none of this land had as yet become available for schools. Gov. 
Safford had sought authority for the Territory to sell some of these 
lands, but had failed. Supt. Sherman now sought to bring the 
matter again before Congress, with the idea of selling the lands and 
reinvesting the proceeds in productive securities, but failed. Under 
the act of April 7, 1896, the Territory was first given authority to 
lease its lands ; authority to sell came only with statehood. 



42 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

Siipt. Sherman made reports on the public schools under his au- 
thority for the years 1879 and 1880. These are summarized in the 
reports for the United States Conunissioner of Education for 1879-80 
and 1880-81. The progress reported for 1879-80 over 1878-79 was 
very gratifying and more or less uniform, except in length of term. 
In 1878-79 the latter is given as 165 days, while the next year it 
went down to 109. In explanation it was said that the city and 
village schools were taught from 150 to 200 days, while the terms 
of the country schools were seldom over 100, and sometimes as 
low as 40 days. There was also a decrease of $1 in the average 
monthly salary, from $84 to $83. The income under the law of 1879 
was more than twice what it had been under the old law. In 1878-79 
the income and expenditures were, respectively, $32,421 and $29,200; 
in 1879-80 they were $67,028 and $61,172. 

The enrollment in 1879-80 was one-fourth larger than in 1878-79; 
the average attendance was one-half larger; and the per cent of 
attendance on enrollment rose from 63.4 per cent in 1878-79 to 67.7 
per cent in 1879-80.^ 

In some districts there were no schools, and large numbers of chil- 
dren never attended school at all, and yet the accommodations were 
so poor and so meager that it was impossible to take care of all who 
applied for admission ; it was therefore still impossible to enforce the 
compulsory law of 1875. 

Sherman's report for the period of his administration as a direct 
representative of the people, 1881-1883, has been seen. Like all other 
officers engaged in similar work, he has the usual complaint that 
reports to him were incomplete, and that the county superintendents, 
tied down as they were by their duties as probate judges, could not 
go out among the schools and learn for themselves, but must depend 
on such information as might be sent in by individual teachers; hence 
the general report necessarily fell short of showing the actual con- 
dition of schools, but with the aid of reports from the various coun- 
ties, he is able to give a general survey of the Territory as a whole. 
He points out that the main difficulty was in the sparsely settled 
rural district, with its short term. This term was often only three 
months, the minimum requirement to meet the law, and was not only 
too short for the good of the child, but was in proportion unduly 
costly. 

In 1882 the superintendent reported " good progress," but the 
difficulties were the same as ever. The probate judge's time and at- 
tention were too much filled to make him a good school officer; be- 
sides, this office demanded a man particularly trained and qualified. 
Progress had been made in the erection of schoolhouses, but the 

» Eept D. S. Commia. of Educ, 1880, pp. 352-355. 



ADMINISTRATION OF MOSES H. SHERMAN. 43 

expense of good buildings had fallen on those directly interested, and 
this indicates that houses were built either by private subscription 
or by a local tax authorized by a two-thirds vote. 

Nor was the method of apportioning the Territorial funds pro- 
ducing the best results. Under the laAv these were a^Dportioned ac- 
cording to school population, and in consequence — 

the bulk of it goes to the larger towns, and the outside districts seldom have 
enough to keep their schools going for more than three or four months in the 
year. I would suggest that the Territorial school money to which each county 
is entitled be divided equally among all the districts. This plan would aid 
very materially the outside districts, and would work no injury on the schools 
in the towns and villages. In nearly every town of any importance in the 
Territory, such as Globe and Tucson, there is an abundance of school money, 
far more than will be required for school purposes for the present year. Such 
an amendment, changing the manner of apportioning the Territorial school 
funds, would work no hardship on populous towns, and would build up the 
outside districts.^ 

It was urged that boards of school supervisors were sometimes in- 
different to expenses, and even in this uncontaminated region it was 
felt necessary to warn districts to get the best men possible for 
school trustees and " that they do not change for the mere sake of 
rotation." 

The superintendent was able to show clearly marked evidence of 
progress. Yavapai County, with its 28 school districts and its 2,086 
pupils, claimed to be the leader in matters educational. In 1882 the 
Territorial board adopted a uniform series of textbooks. " Here- 
tofore, in some districts, there were often as many as three or four 
different kinds of readers. This made the labor of the teacher much 
harder and the number of classes greater." The report for 1882 adds 
the gratifying information : " In nearly every district in the Terri- 
tory a cheap, uniform set of books is now in use." 

In January, 1882, a printed list of questions was furnished by the 
superintendent to each of the county boards of examiners, which 
served as a general and uniform Territorial examination for all 
teachers, and showed that the school courses were expanding. It in- 
cluded geography and " other natural sciences," grammar, botany, 
theory and practice of teaching, arithmetic, United States history 
and constitution, reading, physiology and the laws of health, and 
orthography. 

About the same time, and under the same authority, the superin- 
tendent published a manual of school work which was to serve teach- 
ers as a guide in their duties. The school course there outlined cov- 
ered a total school period of 8^ yeai's of 10 months each. It was 
divided into what may be called the primary and grammar-grade 
courses. The primary work began with what was called the fifth 

1 Reports for 1881 and 1882, pp. 8-9. 



44 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

grade and went backwards. The first grade covered two and a half 
years, or five terms, and was followed by an advanced grade that cov- 
ered two years. The last term of the first grade included reading, 
spelling, arithmetic, language, geography, writing, drawing, history, 
physiology, and philosophy. The first term of the advanced grade 
dealt with reading, writing, history, composition, physiology, alge- 
bra, and philosophy ; while the third and fourth terms of this course 
covered reading, drawing, history, composition and literature, phys- 
iology, algebra, geometry, political economy, chemistry, and book- 
keeping. 

It is evident that the pupils who were able to follow these courses 
to their completion would be well prepared for real high-school work. 
Along with this guide went a series of suggestions to teachers on 
methods of teaching. 

At the time covered by this report (1881 and 1882) the town situa- 
tion seems to have been in general very satisfactory. In Prescott the 
attendance was larger than ever before; " the scholars seem to study 
for the sake of learning " ; but there was a great drawback in the 
irregularity of attendance, " as is the case in all frontier towns " and 
others as well. " The school is being graded as rapidly as possible," 

In Tombstone the session of 1881-82 was the second, and started off 
with 135 pupils the first day. The schooUiouse was divided into two 
rooms for two teachers, but was not big enough ; the Turnverein Hall 
was rented, and a third teacher employed; then the Presbyterian 
Church and a fourth teacher were secured. The average attendance 
that year was 188; the several private schools opened the year before 
now gave place to the public schools, and patent benches were put into 
the schoolhouse owned by the district. On December 28, 1882, the 
enrollment was 276, with an average attendance of 240, There were 
then five teachers in the school, counting the principal. The six 
grades, as required in the public-school manual (five primary and 
one advanced), were provided, and the advanced grade " is prepared 
for high-school work, which it is now doing in part." In this con- 
nection Prof. M, H, Sherman, then superintendent of Tombstone, rec- 
ommended the establishment of a high school, and this seems to have 
been and is perhaps to be properly counted as the real beginning of 
advanced educational work in the Territory. 

In 1881 Prof. George C. Hall reported the Tucson schools as organ- 
ized into three divisions : Primary, with four grades ; grammar, with 
four ; a high school, with literary and scientific courses covering three 
years. The pupils were graded, and separate schools for boys and 
for girls had been abolished. It now has four regular and two spe- 
cial teachers — in Spanish and music. In 1883, $40,000 of short- 
time bonds for a new schoolhouse were issued,^ The high school at 

» Session Laws of Ariaona, 1883, ch. 34. 



ADMINISTRATION^ OF MOSES H. SHERMAN. 45 

Tucson dates from 1880 ; in 1887-88 there were 21 pupils, but no class 
was graduated till 1893.i 

At the expiration of his term of office in January, 1883, Prof. M. H. 
Sherman surrendered the duties of superintendent of public instruc- 
tion to Prof. William B. Horton. After he left school work, Supt. 
Sherman was appointed by Gov. Tritle, in 1883, adjutant general to 
provide against a threatened Apache uprising. Later he became 
president of a bank in Phoenix, and amassed a fortune from Arizona 
and California investments. He is still living (1917). McCrea's 
estimate of Sherman's educational work is somewhat evasive. He 
says that Sherman's work — 

for the schools of the Territory is somewhat difficult to estimate. Coming into 
the Territory in 1873 at the request of Gov. Safford, he soon impressed the 
people of Arizona with his ability and energy, and was given honorable and 
lucrative employment in school work for many years. His superior business 
insight, coupled with the excellent opportunities in that early period, enabled 
him to lay the foundation of a fortune, and to become one of the best-known 
men of the Territory. He did good work for the public school of Prescott, 
winning for it a reputation which made it preeminent in the Territory. His 
work as superintendent of public instruction was mainly clerical, though to 
some extent administrative. With his constant duties at Prescott for the 
greater part of the year, there was no chance for visiting the various schools 
and inspiring the teachers and communities with the enthusiasm so much needed 
to sustain them in their work. The extent to which he influenced legislative 
action, for other than his own ends, is somewhat problematic. In some respects 
he was a worthy successor of Gov. SafCord, even if lacking in the disposition to 
make any considerable sacrifice for the cause of education, as was common 
with the great executive.^ 

m. HORTON BECOMES SUPERINTENDENT, 1SS3-188 5. 

Prof. William B. Horton, the successor of Prof. Moses Hazeltine 
Sherman and the second Territorial superintendent of public instruc- 
tion for Arizona, was the first to devote the whole of his time to the 
duties of his office. He came to Arizona in 1874, where he became a 
successful teacher. His period of administration as Territorial 
superintendent was from January, 1883, to January, 1885, and his 
one published report covers the period from September 1, 1882, to 
August 31, 1884. 

This period was marked as one of renewed activity in school 
affairs. It began with Gov. Tritle's message to the assembly in 
January, 1883, when he pointed out that many small communities 
received no aid because of " the necessity of only organizing schools 
with large numbers of pupils." He thought that this situation was 
due to lack of funds, and this to failure to derive any income from 
school lands. 

1 See Report Tucson Public Schools, 1896-97, p. 5. 
•McCrea, loc. cit., pp. 109, 110. 



46 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

The most important legislative action in 1883 was the school law 
which should be considered rather a revision than a ne^ law. Mc 
Crea thinks the new provisions were due to Supt, Horton and tha: 
the}^ were borrowed from the California law. They are summarizec 
as follows: 

The presidency of the Territorial board of education, was trans 
ferred from the superintendent to the governor ; the superintenden 
was given $500 for traveling and $500 for printing and office ex 
penses, and was to visit each county ; the salary of the county super 
intendents was increased. They were started on a basis of $300 paj 
for 10 districts, and to this as a basis $25 was added for each addi 
tional district, but the office was not yet made distinct from thai 
of probate judge. Particular efforts were made to guard and hedgi 
about the spending of school funds. It was provided that in countie 
where the school districts numbered 20 or more the superintenden 
might, in his discretion, hold a teachers' institute of three to fiv( 
days each year at a total cost of not over $50. All public-schoo 
teachers were required to attend, and if school was in session thei 
absence was not counted as time lost. Every county, city, or incor 
porated toAvn, unless subdivided, formed a school district, but non( 
might be organized with less than 10 pupils or until school hat 
actually commenced in the new district. The local district schoo 
trustees were elected annually, and no person was ineligible either t( 
vote or hold the office because of sex. The census marshal took th( 
census every odd year. Unless otherwise provided, all schools wer( 
to be divided into primary and grammar schools and were to giv( 
instruction in English, in reading, writing, orthography, arithmetic 
geography, grammar, history of the United States, elements o1 
physiology and of bookkeeping, vocal music, industrial drawing 
" and such other studies as the Territorial board of education ma} 
prescribe," and in manners and morals during the entire course. Th( 
school day was fixed at six hours, but no pupil under 8 was to b< 
kept in school more than four hours. 

The sections on district libraries were new. They provided that 1( 
per cent of the Territorial school fund up to $200 be apportioned tc 
each district and constitute " a library fund." This fund and " such 
moneys as may be added thereto by donation " should be spent " in 
the purchase of school apparatus and books for school libraries." The 
latter were kept in the schoolhouses and were open to pupils and 
residents of the district. 

The rate of taxation for schools was unchanged, but funds were 
increased by giving the proceeds of escheats to the Territorial school 
fund, and the proceeds from fines, forfeitures, and gambling licenses. 
except in incorporated places, to the county school fund. The right 



ADMINISTRATION OF WILLIAM B. HORTOK. 47 

of voting on special district taxes was shifted from " qualified voters " 
to " taxpayers." 

Supt. Horton's published report, covering the period September 1, 

1882, to August 31, 1884, shows an essential differentiation in its 
review from earlier ones. There were signs of general improvement : 

Our teaching force has also increased, there being 45 more teachers than 
reported last j^ear. Many of our teachers have had the advantages of a normal- 
school training, and it is a noticeable fact that at least one-half of those who 
have applied for certificates during the last two years [25 were granted] are 
graduates of universities or normal schools. The standard of scholarship 
required for license to teach is being gradually raised throughout the Territory. 
The county examiners are using commendable zeal in the matter, and are more 
careful in granting certificates, and the consequence is better teaching ability 
is coming to the front. 

This desirable result was attained notwithstanding the examiners 
were unpaid and gave their time at financial loss to themselves. Ex- 
aminations were held three times a year; there were two grades of 
certificates given, and 75 per cent was the passing mark. For the 
second grade the applicant was examined on arithmetic (oral and 
written), grammar (oral and written), orthography, geography, his- 
tory, methods of teaching, penmanship, composition, and word analy- 
sis. To these subjects there were added, for the first-grade certificate, 
physiology and algebra. These were county certificates; the first 
grade was good for four years ; the second grade for two. A first- 
grade certificate was necessary to teach the grammar grades. 

The new schoolhouses erected during this period were said to be 
very substantial and well adapted for their purpose : 

Several of them have been built with an eye to beauty of design and finish, 
as well as to comfort, and are supplied with the latest improved furniture and 
apparatus. The public-school buildings in Prescott, Phoenix, Tucson, and Tomb- 
stone will compare very favorably with those of many of the States or Terri- 
tories. Florence has nearly completed a substantial school building, and Yuma 
will soon begin the erection of one. The rural districts have shown an equal 
desire to have comfortable and attractive school buildings. This is particularly 
noticeable in the counties of Cochise, Graham, Apache, Yavapai, and Maricopa. 
The majority of the country schools are now supplied with the necessary school 
apparatus. 

In his report to the Secretary of the Interior, dated September 30, 

1883, which may be taken as substantially representing the school 
year 1882-83, Gov. Tritle gave the number of the schools- as follows : 
Yavapai, 29; Apache, 15; Cochise, 11; Pima and Maricopa, 10 each; 
Pinal, 7 ; Graham, 6 ; Gila, Yuma, and Mohave, 3 each. 

By reason of the negligence, indifference, or ignorance of some of 
the local school trustees, the schools got little supervision from them, 
and the duties of the county superintendent were such as to leave 
them " virtually without supervision," for the duties of the probate 



48 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

judge prevented him from being absent from his office for any length 
of time, even on school duties. The result was that much school 
money was dissipated or wasted because of this lack of supervision. 
It was declared that there was " no bar or hindrance to a vast expendi- 
ture of school money by dishonest trustees " and it was considered 
" of the utmost importance that every possible guard be placed around 
our school fund." The law of 1883 sought to remedy this situation. 

The necessity of this will be realized more clearly when it is re- 
marked that in Pima County, for instance, the tax collected for schools 
"was far in excess of what was necessary." The law required a 
county tax of not less than 50 cents on the hundred ; the Territorial 
tax was 15 cents; to the county fund was to be added under the acts 
of 1879 and 1883 the income from fines and gambling licenses, and to 
the Territorial fund the income from escheated estates. The total 
income in Pima County in 1882-83 was $26,872, and the school term 
was five and one-half months. In Pima in 1883-84, $40,000 was 
raised by district or local taxes, and the total receipts were $85,812. 
The total expenditures were $62,551, and there was a surplus of more 
than $24,000. This was the best report from any county ; in general 
the balances were small and not beyond the margin of safety. 

Because of the difficulties of travel, no teachers' institutes had been 
held during the two j^ears, but the superintendent's opinion was that 
in most of the counties institutes could be held with marked ad- 
vantage. He thought that in few States or Territories were better 
salaries paid to teachers in rural districts than in Arizona. No 
printed report covering the rural districts alone is available, but 
salaries paid in the counties varied from $60 per month in Apache and 
$75 in Maricopa and Graham to $95 in Cochise and $99 in Gila. The 
average for 1882-83 was $80.75, and in 1883-84, $84.90. 

The total income of the public schools in the Territory for 1883-84 
was $205,901.28, and the expenditures were $161,861.57. In 1883 
seven libraries were reported. They had 451 volumes, worth $1,- 
079.10, and an annual expenditure of $114.21. In 1884 there were 
32 libraries, with 909 volumes, worth $1,685.47, and an annual ex- 
penditure of $618.33.1 

The textbooks adopted by the board of education on March 21, 
1881, and still in use, included Appleton's readere, geographies, and 
arithmetics; Webster's speller, model copy books; Quackenbos's lan- 
guage lessons, grammar, histories, philosophy, and Composition and 
Rhetoric ; Krusi's drawing ; and Appleton's series of Science Primers 
for chemistry, physics, physical geography, geology, physiology, as- 
tronomy, botany, logic, inventional geometry, piano playing, and 
political economy. 

1 Pima County reported ?2,422 expended for school libraries, which is doubtless an 
error, for other items of furniture and apparatus are presumably included. 



ADMINISTRATION OF WILLIAM B. HOETON". 49 

These books were reported to be in general use in tbe Territory, 
and in most cases gave satisfaction. They were not furnished free, 
bu.t " in a number of instances the districts have supplied the children 
with textbooks from the school fund," and from this custom was 
deduced an argument for free textbooks in general, which was 
favored by the superintendent. 

During this administration the question of school and university 
lands became acute. Supt. Sherman had located (December, 1882) 
the 72 sections of university land in the San Francisco Mountains 
in a region heavily timbered with pine and valuable only for its 
timber. These lands had been withdrawn from market, but were 
subject to depredators, and had been denuded to a certain extent. It 
was pointed out by the superintendent that they should be placed 
under the control and management of the proper Territorial authori- 
ties to prevent depreciation. It was said that in many cases the 
public-school lands were of no value, and that steps should be taken 
to have these worthless sections replaced while timberlands were still 
unoccupied. 

Prof. McCrea thinks that — 

from a financial standpoint tlie schools of Arizona were probably never in so 
good a condition as during their administration by Supt. Horton. There was a 
substantial growth of the population, and the development of the natural 
resources went forward at a rapid rate.. The burdens of taxation had not yet 
become so apparent, and the people were willing to spend movey liberally on 
the education of their children. 

He comments further on the work of Supt. Horton : 

Supt. Horton made an effort to inspect the schools of Arizona in order to, 
learn their true condition. This kind of work had not been done since Gov. 
Safford left the Territory. On account of the size of the country, the scattered 
settlements, and the difficulties and cost of travel, many of the schools could 
not be reached. Then the other duties of the superintendent were heavy and 
demanded much time and attention. But he thought the inspection of the 
schools could be made of great value, and asked the assembly to amend the 
school law so that a deputy superintendent might be employed, to have charge 
of the office in the absence of the superintendent, and that double the annual 
allowance of $500 should be made that officer in order to meet his traveling ex- 
penses when visiting schools. As the schools were so scattered, the superin- 
tendent could not hope to give them a very close supervision. Besides, his 
efforts could be more profitably directed to the general management of the 
schools. As the probate judges, who were by law ex officio county superintend- 
ents of schools, had no time to devote to such work and no training which 
fitted them to do it well, the superintendent recommended that the office of 
county superintendent should be made a separate office, and that the duty of 
visiting and inspecting all the schools of the county should be made compul- 
sory. He believed that in no department of the public service was supervision 
more needed than in the schools, and that those of Arizona had reached a point 
where this matter must be met and solved. Unfortunately the people's repre- 
sentatives were not ready to solve the problem of school supervision thus early 
61563°— 18 i 



50 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

emphasized by Supt. Horton. Nor has much been done since for its solution. 
One town — Phoenix — now employs a superintendent of schools. In two others — 
Prescott and Tucson — the principals must devote a large share of their time to 
teaching, and in other large towns practically no time is allowed the principals 
for supervision. In the counties having the largest amount of taxable property 
the separate office of county superintendent has been established, and is now on 
trial. The office of superintendent of public instruction has lost rather than 
gained in importance, and a small salary and no appropriation for office or 
traveling expenses prevent it being sought by able men engaged In school work. 
The problein of supervision is one of the most pressing matters in education in 
Arizona to-day. ^ 

While Supt. Sherman had the honor of selecting the landed endowment for 
the university, it was owing to Supt. Horton's persistence that a part of it was 
finally secured. To him is also due the law of the assembly to prevent any 
further destruction of the timber, which alone made the land valuable. He, too, 
saw the advantage likely to result to the Territory from further selections of 
unoccupied timber land in lieu of the school sections (16 and 36) when they 
should fall on worthless lands, and urged that steps be taken to get such 
authority from Congress. 

He concluded his estimate of Horton's work in the following lan- 
guage : 

Supt. Horton was not a candidate for reelection at the close of his term, and 
with his retirement from the office the schools of Arizona passed from under 
the control of the men whose names can be linked with those of Gov. Safford, 
not only as having matured his policy, but as succes.sful superintendents of pub- 
lic instruction, though not in equal degrees. In addition, both Sherman and 
Horton, by their ability as principals of the schools of Prescott and Tucson, so 
commended public schools to their towns and sections that the success of the 
system was assured. Without such help Gov. Safford, wth all his energy and 
enthusiasm, would have found it difficult to reach the larger success that 
marked school matters during his second term as governor.^ 

^ In March, 1885, Prof. Horton was appointed by Gov. Tritle as clerk of the county 
court and clerk of the county of Pima to serve two years. After this office expired he 
removed to San Carlos, Ariz., and became Indian post trader, where he was killed not 
long after by an Indian policeman. 



Chapter V. 
ORGANIZING THE SCHOOL SYSTEM, 1885-1887. 



The next period in the history of the Arizona public schools opens 
with a readjustment of one of the questions of patronage. The law 
of 1871 had made the governor Territorial superintendent of public 
instruction ex officio. That remained the law until the act of Feb- 
ruary 14, 1879. This law authorized the governor to appoint a 
substitute to perform the duties which the law of 1871 had assigned 
to him, and then provided that in 1880 and thereafter the superin- 
tendent should be chosen by the people at the regular election every 
second year. Supt. Sherman, who was appointed by Gov. Fremont 
in 1879, was chosen by popular vote at the regular election in 1880; 
and so was Supt. Horton, in 1882, without discussion or challenge. 
In 1884 Robert Lindley Long was elected. But with the opening 
of the legislative session of 1885 Gov. Tritle, relying on section 
1857 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, in a communi- 
cation to the council on February 13, 1885, declared that the ap- 
pointment of the Territorial superintendent of public instruction 
was a duty which clearly fell within the limits of his prerogatives, 
but since Mr. Long had already been chosen by the people and had 
received the certificate of election, he was now formally appointed 
by Gov. Tritle to fill the office, and his confirmation asked of the 
council. There was no formal objection to this claim and Mr. Long 
was confirmed by unanimous vote. During the remainder of the 
Territorial period the office remained subject to appointment by 
the governor, to whom, under the law, the right clearly pertained.^ 

Of the school situation at this time McCrea says : 

By 1885 the school system of Arizona was ready to begin developments along 
broader lines. * * * it would seem that the time had come not only to 
mold the school law into more permanent form, but also to add higher insti- 
tutions of learning, if a self-sufficing Commonwealth was to be built up in the 
heart of the American desert. Nor was the Territory lacking in financial 
ability to take a great forward step in education. The assessed valuation of 
its property in 1884 was over $30,000,000. Its real value was probably more 
than double that sum. But the financial condition of the Territory was not 
so satisfactory. * * * Tj^g auditor recommended a considerable increase in 
taxation, but the governor thought this might be avoided by more efficient 
methods of taxation and by proper economy. * * * Mining, farming, and 
stock raising were all making great progress in the Territory, which enjoyed 

1 Legislative Jour., Arizona, 1885, pp. 423-24. 

51 



52 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

a prosperity not shared in by the country as a whole. It was under such con- 
ditions that the legislative assembly convened in 1885. In its work for edu- 
cation no other assembly bears comparison with it except that of 1871, when 
the school system was brought into existence and given a definite form.i 

In his message to the assembly of that year, Gov. Tritle urged 
that the office of county superintendent be made distinct from that of 
probate judge; that the discretion of school trustees be limited and 
that some improvement be made in the levying of school taxes. He 
urged also that Congress grant authority to sell the sixteenth sec- 
tions, but no authority to lease these lands was asked. McCrea has 
pointed out that a request for poAver to lease might have brought a 
favorable response and produced a handsome revenue for the schools. 
He remarks also that the assembly of 1885 made a larger appropria- 
tion for the work of the superintendent than had ever been made 
before. This was $6,700 for two years. 

One marked characteristic of Arizona from 1871 to the time now 
under consideration was the evolutionary character of the school law. 
Beginning with the law of 1871, there had been no sudden or violent 
change in the characteristics of the law. The first draft contained 
only the more essential elements of a school system. Then came re- 
visions and extensions in 1873, 1875, 1879, 1883, and again in 1885. 
During all this period there was little deviation from the normal. 
The law was extended, developed, and revised to conform more 
nearly to new conditions. There was no violent change in the system. 
It can be accurately said that while more inclusive the law of 1885, 
and that of 1887, which appears as its final form, was only the act of 
1871 writ large. The law of 1885 goes into great detail and defines 
with minute exactness the duties of the various branches of the school 
service ; little was left to the imagination or to chance. 

The main alterations and additions which differentiate the law of 
1885 from earlier ones, together with the further perfected forms as 
seen in the law of 1887, are summarized in the section which follows. 

I. THE SCHOOL LAWS OF 18 85 AND 1887. 

Like the school law of 1883, that passed on March 12, 1885, has the 
merit of being a serious detailed codification and revisal of the body 
of the school law. It was rearranged, improved, pruned, and 
added to. 

The power and duties of the Territorial board of education are 
defined ; the old Territorial certificates were revoked ; and under the 
new law " Territorial educational diplomas " were given only to 
those who had held a first-grade Territorial or county certificate for 
a year and had taught for at least 5 years, while the " life diploma " 
now required 10 years of teaching instead of 5. 

»McCrea, ioc. cit., p. 119. 



ORGANIZING THE SCHOOL SYSTEM, 1885-1887. 53 

An entirely new feature, the Territorial board of examiners, con- 
sisting of the superintendent of public instruction and two compe- 
tent persons appointed by him, was created and its duties defined. 
Its main duty was to prepare questions for the use of county boards 
of examiners, to grant recommendations for life and educational 
diplomas, grant Territorial diplomas, etc., and fix rules governing 
the same. For a first-grade Territorial certificate good for four 
years the applicant was required to pass on algebra, physiology, 
natural philosophy, geography, history, and Constitution of the 
United States, orthogTaphy, defining, penmanship, reading, method 
of teaching, grammar, arithmetic, and the school laws of Arizona. 
Applicants for the second-grade certificate, good for three years, 
must pass on all the above except the first three — algebra, physiology, 
and natural philosophy. Normal and life diplomas from other 
States were accepted as evidences of fitness without examination. 
Only the Territorial certificate of the first grade gave authority to 
teach in the grammar schools. 

The Territorial superintendent was now given authority " to in- 
vestigate all accounts of school moneys kept by any Territorial, 
county, or district officer," and was given also a closer and more 
direct control over school libraries. The law of 1887 released him 
from the obligation to visit the counties. It will be noticed, how- 
ever, that the new control of the money power of the schools greatly 
increased the superintendent's prestige and power. 

The probate judges were continued as ex officio county superin- 
tendents, and their salaries as such fixed by law. These ranged 
from $600 in Yavapai down to $300 in Gila, Mohave, and Yuma. 
The act of 1887 made it $300 in each county. Their duties were 
defined minutely and a series of penalties introduced, which ranged 
from $25 for failing to visit any school in the county to $100 for 
failure to make reports.^ The duties were detailed and exacting. 
They included greatly extended power over the county school funds 
and were evidently more than any single man could manage. For 
these reasons the county superintendent was permitted to appoint a 
deputy, but no , salary out of the school funds was allowed such 
deputy. 

Teachers' institutes covering a period of from three to five days 
were permitted by the law of 1885 and required by that of 1887 
in counties having 10 or more school districts, and, as under the 
earlier law, teachers then conducting schools were granted the 
right to attend without loss of salary. The total expense of such 
county institutes was not to exced $25. 

1 The act of 1887 released the county supei-intendent from the duty of visiting, and 
■ the fine for failure to report was reduced one-half. 



54 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

The superintendent of public instruction was to appoint two per- 
sons, who, with the county superintendent, were to constitute the 
board of county examiners. They met quarterly, examined teach- 
ers from questions furnished by the Territorial board, enforced the 
uniform textbooks, and the course of study in the schools. 

Each school district was given corporate powers, and " every 
county, city, or incorporated town, unless subdivided by proper 
authority, forms a school district." As in the old law, each new 
district must have at least 10 school census children who must be 
at least 2 miles from any schoolhouse. The school district trustees 
were to be elected, one each year, and their duties were closely and 
elaborately defined. In Apache and Graham women were not allowed 
to vote in their election (repealed in 1887). All work was based on 
the primary and grammar grades, 10 months was counted as a school 
year, and ti was now directed that the schools be taught in English. 
Instruction was required in reading, Avriting, orthography, arithme- 
tic, geography, grammar, history of the United States, elements of 
physiology and of bookkeeping (hygiene was added in 1887), indus- 
trial drawing, " and such other studies as the Territorial board of 
education may prescribe, but no such other studies can be pursued to 
the neglect or exclusion of the studies enumerated." Supplies but 
not textbooks were furnished free. The section in regard to books 
and tracts of a sectarian character was retained. 

The Territorial tax rate was reduced to 3 cents per $100 of tax- 
able property and the county rate was made not more than 75 cents 
on the hundred (law of 1887 went back to the old limitations, be- 
tween 50 and 80 cents) nor less than a rate necessary to raise funds 
sufficient to meet the requirements of the laAV, When the Territorial 
and county funds were not sufficient to provide buildings and run 
the schools at least five months, the remainder must be raised by local 
tax, and if any additional sum was wanted it might, as in the old law, 
be raised by a two-thirds vote of the taxpayers. 

The school money, both Territorial and county, was apportioned by 
allowing for each teacher, calculating one teacher to 80 children or 
fraction thereof (changed in 1887 to one teacher for 15 to 50 pupils), 
the sum of $500; but in districts where there were between 10 and 15 
children only the district received $400; the law of 1887 gave $250 
to districts with from 5 to 10 children. If any funds remained, they 
were apportioned to districts with not less than 30 children, and no 
school was entitled to apportionment that had not maintained a 
school at least five months during the preceding year. This act,^ 
as revised in 1887 and with a few later amendments, remained the 
school law of Arizona until 1907. when it was again revised.-' 

1 Sess. Laws of Arizona, 1885, pp. 138_170 ; Rev. Stat, of 1887 and School Laws of 
1887 (separate). Act of 1887 passed on March 10. 

2 Law approved Mar. 15, 1901. 



ORGAMZING ■ THE SCHOOL SYSTEM, 1885-1881 65 

Of the law of 1885 and of the particular reasons for some of its 
main provisions McCrea says : ^ 

During the time the assembly was in session the school law of 1883 was sub- 
jected to a revision from which it emerged in about the shape it has ever since 
borne. This work was performed by those best qualified to do it well — i. e., 
by the outgoing [Horton] and incoming [Long] superintendents of public 
instruction, and the assembly showed its wisdom by framing the law much as 
suggested by those ofBcers. * * * That the standard of scholarship among 
teachers might be raised and superior teachers induced to come to the Territory, 
a Territorial board of examiners was created to supervise the work of the 
several boards of county examiners and to issue certificates good throughout the 
Territory upon certain credentials and upon examination papers forwarded to 
them from the various counties. The credentials upon which certificates could 
be issued without examination were definitely fixed in the law, also the 
branches upon which teachers must be examined for certificates. Such things 
had been too largely left to the discretion of boards of examiners in the past. 

This assembly made an effort to arrange a more satisfactory plan of school 
taxation. As three new institutions had been created which must have build- 
ings and maintenance from Territorial taxation, it was thought best to reduce 
the Territorial school tax to a nominal figure. With the handsome balances 
with which every county had closed each of the last two school years the legis- 
lature had reason for believing that the new plan for levying the county school 
tax would relieve the Territory of further responsibility in supporting common 
schools. Then district taxes might sooner be resorted to to lengthen the term 
than heretofore, though no such use had been made of the tax in any county 
during the last two years. 

Every school law since that of 1871 had contained provisions against the 
introduction of tracts or papers of a sectarian character into the public school, 
also against the teaching of any sectarian doctrine in them. For some reason 
this was not believed to be drastic enough, and a section was added to the law 
which provided for revoking teachers' certificates for using in their schools sec- 
tarian or denominational books, for teaching in them any sectarian doctrine, or 
for conducting any religious exercise therein. The lawmakers evidently aimed 
to relegate all religious teaching to the home and the church. The prohibiting 
of " religious exercises " in schools has met with strong condemnation from 
many Protestant church members, but with the variety of religious creeds 
represented in the Territory it is doubtful whether a better policy could have 
been found. 

For the first time in the Arizona school law there was a recognition of the 
work of the schools in training the youth for citizenship, and the provision was 
of such a broad and general character that the criticism on the religious pro- 
hibition loses much of its force. 

IL TPIE ADMINISTRATION OF SUPERINTENDENT LONG, 1885-1887. 

It is now possible to turn from tlie law itself to a consideration 
of its execution and the development of the schools during the 
period. 

The third Territorial superintendent of public instruction of 
Arizona was Eobert Lindley Long, a Pennsylvanian, who had been 
in Arizona since 187T. He was principal of the public schools of 

1 See McCrea, in Long's Report, 1908, pp. 121-122. 



56 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IK AEIZONA. 

Phoenix in 1879-80 and again in 1890-91 ; in 1881-1884 he lived in 
Globe, and held the offices of clerk of the district court and probate 
judge and ex officio county superintendent of schools of Gila County. 
In 1884 he was a candidate for the office of Territorial superin- 
tendent, and was elected by the j^eople^ but as the national adminis- 
tration had gone Democratic it was thought vrell to make his office 
a little more secure by giving him an appointment by the governor. 
He served two years, and was succeeded in 1887 by Charles M. 
Strauss. In 1888-1890 he was principal of the Territorial normal 
school at Tempe; in 1899-1902 and 1906-1909 he was again Terri- 
torial superintendent. Altogether he filled the office for nearly 10 
years, a longer period of service than any other officer has attained. 

After assisting in drawing the school bill and putting it through 
the legislature of 1885 it became Mr. Long's duty to attend to its 
enforcement and the execution of its provisions. 

One of the most important duties that confronted him during the 
early days of his administration was the organization— perhaps more 
accurately the reorganization — of the Territorial board of education 
and the adoption of rules and regulations for the government of 
the public schools. The Territorial school organization now began 
to actually control the public schools. Mr. Sherman, the first Terri- 
torial superintendent, though nominally at the head of a Territorial 
system, had contented himself by sticking to his school principalship 
at Prescott, and had done practically nothing toward bringing the 
disconnected and independent parts of a Territorial system into 
union one with another. William B. Horton, the second superintend- 
ent, had made a beginning in this direction, but it was not a thing 
Avhich could be perfected in a single administration, and this was one 
of the earliest matters to Avhich Supt. Long turned his attention. 

His work was to adjust, consolidate, and develop a true Terri- 
torial system. This was to be done through the Territorial board of 
education and a course of study. 

Minute and careful rules were drawn by the board for the direction 
and control of teachers and pu]3ils, hours of study and of recreation, 
care of schoolrooms and houses, and all similar matters. The use of 
the texts required by law was rigidly enforced, but there were as yet 
no free textbooks except that, in certain cases, " books may be fur- 
nished to indigent children by the trustees, at the expense of the 
districts, whenever the teacher shall have certified in writing that th ^ 
pupil applying is unable to purchase such books." The means of 
enforcing these directions for teachers and these rules and regula- 
tions for pupils were lAft mainly in the hands of the teachers them- 
selves. The local trusses had general control, but it is well known 
that they do little. The Territorial superintendent could not pos- 
sibly make the rounds of all the schools, and was released from the 



ORGANIZING THE SCHOOL SYSTEM, 1885-1887. 57 

requirement to do so in 1887; the county superintendent was in- 
structed " to enforce " the laws and regulations, and made visits to 
the school from time to time, but as he was not required by any law 
to visit the schools under his jurisdiction after 1887, and as his offi- 
cial duties at the county seat gave him no leisure for such visits, at 
best his supervision would be at long range and so of little effect. 
But, nevertheless, this was a beginning of State supervision and rep- 
resents the preliminary steps in Territorial control. In the same 
way the board drew up and promulgated rules for the administra- 
tion of the district-school libraries, which were beginning, under the 
encouragement of the law, to spring up in the more prosperous and 
progressive communities. The board did not materially change the 
course of study; it added to the course such branches as are usually 
taught in high schools, and authorized the districts with superior 
facilities to organize high-school classes when there were funds avail- 
able and pupils to make use of the opportunities offered. The text- 
books adopted in 1881, with a single exception, were retained, and 
texts for teaching the effects of alcohol and narcotics were added. 
The board of Territorial examiners, created by the law of 1885, was 
now organized for the first time. It consisted of the superintendent 
and two other persons appointed by him. Kules and regulations for 
the use and direction of the county examiners were promulgated, and 
an examination for the general use of these officers was provided. 
These examinations were to be held in the counties and the papers 
were returned to the Territorial board, which issued the diplomas. 
The old Territorial diplomas were revoked, and now three classes 
only of diplomas were issued: (1) To those holding diplomas issued 
in States with educational requirements equal to those in Arizona; 
(2) to graduates of normal schools; (3) to those passing the Terri- 
torial examination. 

The superintendent published in his report one of the series of 
examinations that were set for teachers. It was long and searching 
in character. It required an extensive acquaintance with primary 
and secondary work and that the applicant be well prepared for the 
classroom. The examination was made for the subjects covered in 
the law, including the school law itself. It made possible the organi- 
zation and development of high-school work without further ma- 
chinery whenever pupils were ready to avail themselves of such 
opportunities and wherever the schools were financially capable of 
providing them. The primary and grammar courses covered the first 
seven grades ; to this two years of high-school work Avas to be added. 

There is given in this report statistics and an account of the or- 
ganization of the first Territorial normal school at Tempe, which will 
be considered in another connection. In his own summary and dis- 
cussion of the statistics, Mr. Long points out that there were in the 



58 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

Territory 10,219 children between 6 and IS years, which was then 
the school age, and 4,502 between 8 and 14 years, the compulsory age. 
■ Of these, 4,974 attended school in 1884-85 and 6,072 in 1885-86. In 
1885 there were in addition 1,024 children in private schools. It 
may be assumed that most of these were Catholic Church schools, 
as the Protestants generally either accepted the work of the public 
schools as sufficient or were too weak to organize schools for them- 
selves. Based on the figures for 1884-85, it was thought that per- 
haps as many as 7,100 children were in school during 1885-86. The 
average attendance in the public schools was not so satisfactory; 
in 1884-85 it was 3,226, or 64.9 per cent of the enrollment; and in 
1885-86, 3,507, or 57.7 per cent of enrollment. 

Twenty-one new districts had been organized, and while some of 
the new buildings were erected to replace old ones, the majority were 
in districts where none had existed before. New buildings and their 
appurtenances cost about $48,000. The funds to meet these expenses 
were raised by special taxes and by bond issues.^ Thirteen primary 
schools had been evolved into grammar-grade schools, and while the 
whole number of schools in 1884 was 121, in 1886 it had grown to 150; 
Through purchase and donations 1,930 books had been secured for 
the public-school libraries in 1885-86, as against 1,171 volumes in 
1884-85. Of the teachers, 86 had first-grade certificates, of whom 25 
were employed in the grammar and high school grades, leaving 61 
for the primary and grammar grades, showing that about one-half 
the schools were enjoying the services of first-grade teachers. At 
the end of his term the superintendent was able to say : 

It may be safely asserted the public schools of Arizona are in charge of as 
competent a body of teachers as can be found anywhere. 

The law of 1885 reduced the Territorial tax to 3 cents on the 
hundred,^ and as a result, as Supt. Long says in his report: 

Under the present law the cost of maintaining the schools devolves on the 
counties and is not shared by the Territory at large. * * * The revenue 
raised by the counties for the support of the schools during the past year, while 
it nearly equaled the sum obtained in 1884-85 from this source, was inadequate 
to a maintenance of the schools for the proper length of time. Boards of super- 
visors in some instances disregarded the estimates upon which the minimum 
rate of tax is based, as furnished by the superintendents, and in other cases 
no estimates were furnished, or if made at all, were based on erroneous calcula- 
tions. As supervisors generally make as small a levy as possible under the 
law, no result could follow but a scarcity of funds. 

1 In 1885 $12,000 in bonds was issued for school purposes by Florence, in Pinal 
County. (Sess. Acts, 1885, ch. 3.) Graham County also issued $8,000 of bonds (chs. 
Ill and 112) for the town of Clifton. 

2 This was possibly brought about indirectly by the act of 1885, which reduced the 
upper county limit from 80 cents to 75 cents, but the law of 1887 went back to 80 
cents. The reduction of the upper limit would undoubtedly suggest the reduction of 
the rate actually levied. 



ORGANIZING THE SCHOOL SYSTEM, 1885-1887. 59 

This falling off in school income in 1885-86 as compared with the pre- 
vious year was as follows, as given by Long : The amount for 1884-85 
was $144,350.29 and in 1885-86 it was $114,863.43. The Territorial 
tax fell from $22,789.60 to $10,662.06; the miscellaneous receipts 
from $25,292,53 to $18,760.12; the county tax was off about $3,000 ^ 
and the gift of $8,500 for a normal school in 1884-85 was omitted 
the next year. The total deficit of 1885-86, as compared with 1884-85, 
was no less than $29,496.86. But by using the balances that had come 
over from the full years, and by exercising more carefully the 
gift of economy, the superintendent was able to carry the schools 
through the latter year without a deficit, although the total number 
of schools was increased from 137 to 150 and the total enrollment 
rose from 4,974 to 6,076. Unfortunately, 22 days were lost from the 
school term, as compared with the year before, and it is probable 
that a part of this burden was placed on the shoulders of the teach- 
ers, for the salary of men dropped from $91 to $80.45, and of women 
from $84 to $76.18. The total expenditures in 188-1-85 were $141,- 
264.83, and in 1885-86, $144,868.99.^ 

The school system at this time was becoming highly centralized. 
The superintendent, the governor, and the Territorial treasurer com- 
posed the Territorial board of education ; as the other members were 
ex officio, they would be disposed to leave the active administration 
of the board to the Territorial superintendent, who prepared its 
rules and regulations and its courses of study. The Territorial 
superintendent and two other members appointed by him composed 
the Territorial board of examiners, and the superintendent ap- 
pointed also two of the three members of the county board of ex- 
aminers. The county superintendents were required to make reports 
under heavy penalty. This centralizing tendency was negatived to 
a certain extent, however, by the inability of the superintendent to 
follow up his subordinates with a close supervision. True, certain 
funds were assigned him for traveling, and he visited the schools 
when possible; but the funds given were limited in amount ($500 
per year), the territory to be covered was great, and the duties at 
the capital were becoming all the time more and more important 
and imperative. 

Supt. Long visited each county during each year of his adminis- 
tration and concluded from his observations that the Territory had 
made progress during the two years in the following particulars: 
The enrollment and the average daily attendance had largely in- 

^ Under the law of 1879 this tax was 15 cents, and the same under the law of 1883. 

2 These are the figures given by Long in his report for 1885-86. In the report for 
1889-90 figures varying from the above for these same items are given and are fol- 
lowed in the statistical table at the end of this study. The student of school reports 
is constantly harassed by different sets of figures covering the same items, but conflict- 
ing with each other, probably neither being entirely correct. 



60 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

creased ; more and better schoolhouses had been erected and supplied 
with better furniture and school apparatus; teachers were better 
qualified, and as a result pupils were better taught; funds were 
being more judiciously expended; back of all these, public opinion 
was growing to a more intelligent appreciation of the schools and 
of their wants. 

The school situation as it was then developing must have given 
much pleasure to the friends of education and enlightenment. The 
Territorial system had started on an independent career with Sher- 
man in 1879 and had gone its own way with little supervision until 
1883. Then came Horton, who was really first to undertake the 
organization of the Territorial system. He made some progress; 
the law of 1883 was a step in the right direction ; then, in 1885, the 
old superintendent (Horton) and the new (Long) put their heads 
together and evolved a still better law, which, under the pressure 
of actual working conditions, was somewhat modified in 1887. A 
beginning in high-school work had appeared about 1883. Provisions 
were made in 1885 for a university and the normal school at Tempe, 
and the latter began to furnish teachers. The outlines of a com- 
plete Territorial system were visible, and in 1885 a uniform course 
of study was adopted, but was unfortunately soon abandoned. The 
last year of Long's administration seems to mark the crest of the 
wave of progress ; with the incoming of Strauss retrogression became 
more and more marked. 

There were, however, unquestionably serious drawbacks in the 
school situati'on. In the first place, the schools were in politics, 
and any change in the control of national parties in Washington 
was felt in the public-school superintendency in Arizona. The re- 
sult of this was bad. Every governor appointed his own friends to 
office, and as a result there was a rapid succession of officials, who, 
however earnest and devoted, were handicapped by inexperience. 
By the time they had learned their duties they were ready to give 
way to other untrained men. 



Chapter VI. 

REACTION AND PROGRESS, 1 887-1 899. 



The period of 12 years between 1887 and 1899 may be character- 
ized as one of retrogression and advance, reaction and progress. 
This changing condition is evidenced by the number of Territorial 
superintendents. Between 188T and 1899 there were five, so that 
they served on an average only a little over two years each. They 
were: Charles M. Strauss, chosen by the people at the regular elec- 
tion in 1886, and appointed by Gov. Zulick in January, 1887. He 
served for two years, and was again appointed to the office in 1889, 
but a Republican successor to Gov. Zulick was then expected, the 
council refused to confirm the nomination, and on April 8, 1889, 
George W. Cheyney, a Pennsylvanian by birth, a mining engineer 
by profession, and at that time a member of the Territorial council 
from Cochise County, was lifted into the office by Gov. Wolfley, who 
had succeeded Gov. Zulick. Strauss, however, was not willing to get 
out of office and held on until about June, 1890; neither the old 
superintendent nor the new gave any particular attention to the 
office. Cheyney drew the salary, but Strauss was later reimbursed 
by the legislature.^ Cheyney continued to serve for the term 1891- 
1893, but the legislature was then in opposition to the governor, and 
cut Cheyney's salary from $2,000 to $750 per year. Frethias J. 
Netherton was confirmed as his successor on April 13, 1893. He was 
a native of California, an athlete, a newspaper man, and a school- 
master. The office of Territorial superintendent was a movable 
one. Cheyney had conducted its affairs from Tombstone; Neth- 
erton now removed it to Mesa City, where he had a business. He 
was appointed by Gov. Hughes, and went out of office with the 
governor. His successor was Thomas E. Dalton, who said, in the 
report for 1895-1897, that he came into office about May 15, 1896. 
He was a native of St. Lawrence County, N. Y., and a college man. 
He was a teacher in the Phoenix schools, and when not engaged in the 
active work of teaching conducted a real estate business there. He 
had his office as Territorial superintendent in Phoenix and was at 
the head of the schools about a year. His successor was A. P. Shew- 
man, a lawyer and editor, with an office at Mesa. He served till 
February 27, 1899, when he in turn gave place to Robert L. Long, 

* Ex relatione Robert L. Long, ex-superintendent. 

61 



62 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

who had been superintendent in 1885-1887, and had first started the 
schools on organized lines. 

Of these five superintendents, apparently only two (Netherton 
and Dalton) had had any experience in educational matters. The 
others were business men, followers of particular governors, political 
favorites. They probably did in a school way what they could, 
but they had no permanent office, no money for traveling, and little 
salary.^ It is rather remarkable that the schools in general showed 
for most of the time, as statistics will prove, a fairly uniform growth. 

After this survey of the personal side of the Territorial superin- 
tendents during this period, it seems well to summarize the fortunes 
of the schools somewhat chronologically. In his message to the 
assembly on January 11, 1887, Gov. Zulick, after reviewing briefly 
the former years, utters a word of warning : 

It is admitted that the permanency of our institutions depends upon the 
intelligence of the people. Free public schools are the means of diffusing knowl- 
edge among the rising generation and preparing the youth of the land to 
exercise with intelligence the duties of American citizenship when clothed 
with its cares and responsibilities. Since intelligence elevates communities and 
restricts crime, and ignorance degrades citizenship and fosters vice, it is our 
duty, as far as possible, to place within the reach of every child the means for 
obtaining a good, solid business education. Universities and normal schools 
are all right and proper, but should not be maintained to the detriment or 
injury of our public schools, upon the efficiency of which depends the educa- 
tion of the masses. 

After pointing out what had been done officially toward the begin- 
ning of a normal school and of a university, he made a wise sugges- 
tion, which later became and even yet remains to a certain extent 
the principle of action in Arizona. He said in his conclusion: 

I respectfully suggest that, as there are no high schools in the Territory 
where a scientific course and preparatory course of instruction can be taken 
to fit our youths to enter college, the normal school and university could be 
well utilized for this purpose.* 

But the recommendations of Gov. Zulick received scant attention 
in 1887, for a reaction Avas due. The first manifestation of this reac- 
tion came within a month of the meeting of the legislature, when a 
fight on the public-school system began. On February 7, 1887, 
A, G. Oliver, member of the lower house from Yavapai, gave notice 
that he would introduce a bill to abolish the Territorial superin- 
tendency, and the passage of this bill was recommended by the com- 
mittee to which it was referred and of which Oliver was chairman.* 

1 Salar.v, 1887-1891, $2,000 per year; 1891-1893, $750 per year; 1893-1895, |1,200 ; 
1895-1897, no record seen that any salary was provided ; 1897-1899, $1,200 ; 1899, 
$1,200. In 1889 the $500 for printing was restored ; it appeared again in 1891 and 
1893, but not in 1895, 1897, or 1899. 

*Jour. Legislative Assembly, 1887, pp. 240-242. 

"Ibid., pp. 361, 375. 385. 



REACTION AND PROGEESS, 1887-1899. 63 

The reasons for this action are not clear from the journals, but 
they are said to have been of a political character,^ 

In the fight which followed the superintendency won out; the 
office was not abolished, but it was shorn of its powers. The super- 
intendent was no longer required to visit the counties and supervise 
the schools; his allowance for traveling and office expenses and for 
printing blanks was cut off, and any chance for a general supervision 
of the schools of the Territory was cut off. 

McCrea, in reviewing the situation, remarks that — 

All idea of making the superintendent of any signal service to the schools 
was abandoned, and from this time on no superintendent of public instruction 
in Arizona has been chosen from the ranks of those actually engaged in teach- 
ing, though three out of six have had experience as teacbers.* 

The new board of education appointed in 1887, none of whom 
were teachers, also began to get in its work; it amended (1887) the 
rules and regulations for the government of the schools of the Terri- 
tory, and its amendments were not alwaj'S for the best. Some of the 
old teaching certificates revoked by the former administration were 
now regranted, and a rule was adopted that practically abandoned 
corporal punishment. This caused great dissatisfaction among the 
teachers and was modified in 1890, so that the penalties of the law 
applied only to those who inflicted excessive or cruel punishment. 
Still more unsatisfactory was the dropping of the course of study 
from the requirements. The schools went back to the old sj^stem 
where each teacher worked out a course for himself. It is true that 
there was still an adopted series of textbooks, but with no fixed 
course of study it was impossible to make the classes uniform, and 
no other course was prepared until Long again became superin- 
tendent in 1899-1900. 

This reaction against the schools in 1887 was doubtless due to the 
irritation of the people arising in part from causes other than educa- 
tional. The governor points out in his message of 1887 that the as- 
sembly for some years had been wasteful and had been spending 
more money than had been allowed by Congress. A debt of $336,817 
had been contracted in eight years for roads, bridges, and legislative 
expenses. Much of this money had been wasted or actually stolen 
in building the penitentiary and the insane asylum. Says McCrea : 

The people were becoming restive under the great burdens of taxation and 
the wasteful and corrupt management of affairs. In seeking relief they had 
already begun to retrench on money spent for schools. This is hardly to be 
wondered at, as salaries and expenses of school officials had wonderfully in- 
creased, while the improvement of the schools was not So apparent.' 

On the legislative side the situation in 1889 was a period of calm 

1 Ex relatione Robert L. Long, ex-superintendent. 

* McCrea, in Long's report, p. 139. This was written in 1902. 

•McCrea, loc. cit., p. 138. 



64 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

when comi^ared with 1887. Gov. Ziilick confined liis attention to 
efforts toward securing from Congress the privilege of selling the 
scliool lands, in which he failed, and actual legislation was practically 
negligible. A compulsory school laAv was framed, which was sub- 
stantially a reenactment of the law of 1875, but in 1895-96 it was 
declared to be null and void by the attorney general, and the Terri- 
tory^ was without compulsory legislation until 1899, Avhen a new law, 
diitering but little from those of 1885 and 1889, was enacted. 

Supt. Cheyney discussed in his report for 1889-90 the difficulties 
and tendencies of the period. A question then of much importance 
was that of providing funds for new schoolhouses. The older cus- 
tom, begun in 1877 and brought to mature stature in the eighties, 
was by issuing bonds under special acts. A general act passed in 
1891 (ch. 16) made this no longer permissible. Under the new act 
the district trustees might still issue bonds not to exceed 4 per cent 
of the assessed value of their property and there must be provisions 
for a local tax on the property of the district for repayment. In 
•some places the burden of this additional tax was regarded as ex- 
cessive and resulted in the rental or erection of unsuitable houses 
and of inadequate accommodations. As a way out of the difficulty 
Supt. Strauss suggested that the Territory create a Territorial loan 
and building fund based on the idea of the building and loan asso- 
ciations. 

In 1889 four new schoolhouses were erected; in 1890 the number 
was 15. 

At this time the finances of the schools were generally good. The 
Territorial administrative expenses were paid out of the 3-cent 
Territorial tax; in the counties the minimum county tax was levied 
and in all except one a surplus was reported. But the administration 
of the county school funds was complicated and unsatisfactory, be- 
cause they were collected and expended by 187 local boards of trus- 
tees, 10 county treasurers, 10 county superintendents, and the Terri- 
torial superintendent, and all on different plans of accounting. The 
Territorial superintendent plaintively adds: "The result is inevit- 
able. Confusion reigns, and tabulation of records at given dates as 
the law contemplates and requires is simply impossible." He recom- 
mends, therefore, that a uniform system of record of school moneys 
be adopted and used and that the Territorial superintendent be re- 
quired to visit each county at least once a year and audit the records 
of school moneys in each. He urged that the Territorial superin- 
tendent's office be made elective and thought that while the schools 
had as much money as necessary, the school attendance, being 36.5 per 
cent only, was less than it should be. He intimates that a stronger 
compulsory law might be necessary, but points out that many chil- 
dren were so located that attendance was impossible; that in the 



REACTION AND PROGRESS, 1887-1899. 65 

toNTiis priA'ate and parochial schools drew off a number of pupils, and 
that the summer heat, early and intense, was one of the main causes 
of the comparatively short term — about six and one-half months. 
The salary paid teachers, while falling slightly from year to year, 
was "equal to if not larger" than that paid elsewhere, while posi- 
tions in the Territorial schools were " so eagerly sought as to render 
possible the selection of teachers of the highest grade." The teachers' 
institute, howeA^er — 

seems to work rather a hardship than a benefit, and is frequently ignored. 
* * * rphg conditions in this Territory of distance and inaccessibility are 
such as to render it well nigh impossible for any excepting those at the county 
seat to attend. For the same reason it is impossible, with the funds he is per- 
mitted to use, for the county superintendent to provide the lecturers whose 
instruction forms the chief value of an institute. It is a question whether under 
the circumstances the improvement of the teacher is sufficient to compensate 
the school for the annual loss of a week's services, and I recommend that the 
law be modified in so much as the annual institute is made obligatory. 

The superintendent points out that, while the new normal school 
was intended primarily to provide teachers for the Territorial 
schools, it was hardly less useful in furnishing " an opportunity for 
an education at home beyond that possible in the grammar school, 
and the course of study has been so arranged that the pupil upon 
completing the grammar school course shall be fitted for entrance to 
the normal school." Indeed, this was the first service to which the 
new institution was put. Before taking prospective teachers into 
the deeps of professional subjects, it Avas necessary to give them in- 
struction in secondary subjects. 

In his message to the assembh^ in 1891 Gov. Murphy has much to 
say on educational matters. He discussed the university, the normal 
school, and the school laws. He urged that the Territorial superin- 
tendent should be again required to visit the counties " and ascertain 
the true conditions of the schools therein " and urged that the law 
which prohibited teachers from serving on the county board of 
examiners was " an absurdity which should be corrected. It is in 
keeping with a provision that requires doctors to be examined by 
farmers or lawyers by merchants." He made an argument against 
the special privileges given to towns in the matter of textbooks and 
urged that the rate of taxation be fixed at 30 to 60 cents instead of 
60 to 80, as was then the law. He urged also that the Territorial 
superintendency should be maintained and its duties extended; that 
the services of the superintendent be made more effective; and that 
the superintendent " should be a capable and experienced educator." 
Bills Avere introduced to carry the terms of these recommendations 
into effect, but along with them Avas another to reduce the salarA^ of 
the superintendent of public instruction and to attach his office to 
eX563°— 18 § 



66 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

the office of county school superintendent of the county wherein the 
capital of the Territory was situated ^ and another to abolish the 
Territorial board of examiners.* Fortunately these proposals did 
not become law. 

The actual educational legislation of 1891 may be summarized as 
follows : 

In matters of legislation the assembly was more active than in 
1889. Besides a general law authorizing school districts under fixed 
conditions to issue bonds for building and to liquidate outstanding 
indebtedness, the law on textbooks was made more rigid and county 
examiners were forbidden under penalty to give special preparation 
to any candidates for teachers' examination; a law to establish 
kindergartens was framed, and also an act to promote the education 
of the deaf, dumb, and blind, which was to be made a part of the 
university. 

Things must have been making satisfactory progress, for in 1893 
Gov. Murphy addressed the assembly in the following high-sounding, 
if not boastful, language : 

The University of Arizona compares favorably with other institutions similar 
in character throughout the States of the Union. It is thoroughly equipped 
and is conducted by learned and experienced educators. * * * The normal 
school of the Territory at Tempe is a highly creditable and deserving educa- 
tional institution and is popular with the people. * * * Our common 
school system needs no laudation ; its thorough excellence is a reason for 
pride and congratulation and has great effects in commending the Territory 
to the approving attention of the older communities of the country. 

He again recommends that the duties of the Territorial superin- 
tendent be " specifically defined " and that his compensation be made 
such as would enable him to " give exclusive attention to educational 
matters ; otherwise it would be better to abolish the office." 

The legislature at the session of 1893 seemed to take the report of 
the governor as sufficient and practically let the schools alone. Sup- 
plementary agencies created included a Territorial library, to be 
located in the capitol and governed by a board of curators, with the 
Territorial secretary as librarian. There was also passed a law look- 
ing to a reform school to be located in Coconino County (ch. 81). 
This law became later the basal act for the northern Territorial 
normal school at Flagstaff. 

There was durmg the years of Netherton's administration, 1892-93 
and 1893-94, nothing unusual or extraordinary to report. There 
was a gradual extension of educational activity into the field of 
libraries, normal schools, and kindergartens. An unfavorable symp- 
tom was seen in the increase of school indebtedness, and there was 

iSee H. J., 1891, pp. 190, 436. 

- Apparently this proposal was not formally introduced, but notice to that effect was 
given. See C. J., 1891, p. 109. 



REACTION" AND PROGRESS, 1887-1899. 67 

complaint that the high schools, grammar, and primary school inter- 
ests were not represented on the Territorial board of education. It 
was again urged that the powers of the Territorial superintendent 
be increased so that he might be able to exercise " a more direct super- 
vision over every bra^nch of the public school work." It was recom- 
mended that he prepare and prescribe a uniform system of accounts 
of school moneys and enforce their use; that he visit each county 
and that his traveling expenses be paid. There was here an effort 
both to come back to an abandoned custom and at the same time to 
escape from survivals of the earlier age. Says the Territorial super- 
intendent : 

At present the probate judge of each county is ex officio county superintend- 
ent of schools. The office is emphatically a political one and is usually filled 
by men who, though able, honorable, and conscientious, have no special ability 
in the line of superintending educational affairs. * * * r^^^Q qualifications 
for a candidate for the office of county superintendent should be clearly de- 
fined and include the clause that he or she must have taught in a public school 
in this Territory at least two years on a first-grade certificate, and must hold 
a first-grade certificate or its equivalent at the time of receiving the nomination. 

The superintendent suggested also that the requirements proposed 
for teachers should apply to county examiners, into whose ranks 
teachers had been admitted by act of 1893, He acknowledged the 
need of a course of study, but none had been compiled. This was 
made still more essential by the adoption of a new series of textbooks 
in 1893. The sentiment for free textbooks was growing. The law 
relating to school libraries was not flexible enough, for while the 
authorities might devote 10 per cent of their school income to the 
library, this was not permitted if there were less than 100 pupils in 
the district. The districts in which this prohibition of the law ap- 
plied was where the benefits of a public library were most needed. 
There were then only 2,891 volumes in school libraries in the Terri- 
tory. 

There was as yet no special law for the organization of high 
schools, and the superintendent points out that there was in general 
more or less opposition to their organization in new counties. The 
necessity for them, however, was becoming more keenly felt. In 
1892-93 the number of high-school pupils reported was 188; in 
1893-94 the number had increased to 258. The superintendent sug- 
gested that a law be passed meeting certain conditions. These con- 
ditions were substantially met in the law of 1895 (ch. 32). This law 
is considered in detail under the subject of high schools. 

In 1892 the Arizona Teachers' Association was organized (Dec. 23, 
1892), and held its sessions, along with the teachers' institute, at 
Phoenix. The first officers were Prof. E. L. Storment, Tempe, presi- 
dent ; Prof. F. A. Gully, of the university, secretary ; and Miss Mamie 



68 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATTON IN ARIZONA. 

Garlic, Tempe, treasurer. The second session was held in Tucson. 
Its declared objects were improvement of the school system, profes- 
sional fellowship, and protection. The interest manifested seemed 
to warrant recognition by the legislature and authorization to out- 
line a course of reading. 

The superintendent said that the compulsory law was a dead let- 
ter. This failure was apparently because its enforcement was de- 
volved upon too many persons, and no compensation was provided 
therefor. It was pointed out also that "the formation of so many 
small school districts is expensive and detrimental in more ways 
than one." The consolidation of small districts with a controlling 
board as the trustees were then chosen was recommended as an im- 
provement. Consolidation promised to be less expensive, and it 
was thought better supervision would follow. 

In his message to the assembly in 1895 Gov. Hughes adopted in 
the main the suggestions of the Territorial superintendent and rec- 
ommended them in his message. These included the enlargement 
of the duties of the Territorial superintendent, requiring him to 
visit each county at least once a year and to audit the accounts of the 
county superintendent and county treasurer. The representation of 
all classes of school work on the Territorial board of education and 
the separation of the office of probate judge and county superin- 
tendent were urged. 

The governor said further : 

The superintendent should be a teacher of experience and liold a valid first- 
grade certificate, or its equivalent, at the time of his nomination for the office; 
no increase of salary would be necessary. A restrictive clause, limiting, the 
renewal of certificates would do much toward maintaining a high standard in 
the teaching force. The Arizona Teachers' Association should be encouraged by 
legislative enactment. Salaries should be graded according to the experience or 
efficiency of teachers. * * * a saving of about 40 per cent of the cost of 
school books could be made by the enactment of a proper law providing for free 
textbooks. General dissatisfaction exists with the custom of " farming out " 
teachers' positions. This evil should be prohibited by law. 

It should be remarked that while there was discussion and demand 
that high educational qualifications should attach to the county 
superintendent, there was neither suggestion nor demand that there 
should be such for the Territorial superintendent. From the educa- 
tional point of view any man was good enough. It was a political 
job, to be filled by the choice of the governor and without any re- 
quired considerations for the good of the schools themselves. It 
would seem that it was sometimes the case that men were appointed 
with few qualifications, or with professions which could in no sense 
serve as a basis for educational supervision. When the student takes 
into consideration that the office of Territorial superintendent was 
always the football of politics and that appointments were made 



REACTION AND PEOGEESS^ 1887-1899. 69 

without reference to the welfare of schools ; that the confirmation of 
individual appointees was rejected to gain political advantage; that 
the salary of others was cut until the place was no longer attractive ; 
that the superintendents were constantly changing, some resigning, 
and some being turned out; it becomes a source of wonder that the 
schools could do as well as they did. 

The legislation of 1895 in regard to education was not great in 
amount but was of some importance. One act was to encourage 
military instruction in the public schools (ch. 15), and a more 
important one was that to establish and maintain high schools in 
the Territory (ch. 32). Another act (ch. 53) provided that there 
should be levied for the next two years a special tax of two-fifths 
of a mill for a "normal-school fund." A special tax for the benefit 
of the university was also levied (ch. 75). 

The successor of Supt. Netherton was T. E. Dalton, who first came 
into office about May 15, 1896. He was formally nominated and 
confirmed March 2, 1897. He reports " steady progress along all 
lines of educational effort." He summarizes the statistics for the 
years 1894-95 and 1895-96, and shows a gratifying increase. He 
emphasizes the need of a course of study, and points out that the 
Territorial board was required to — 



prescribe and enforce a course of studies in the public schools. As to the 
bility of uniform courses of study, there can be no doubt. Why each one of 
47 different districts in Maricopa County should have a different course of 
study there can be no good reason assigned. 

When we consider that there are 223 districts in the Territory, and each 
one pursuing a different course of study and exacting diiferent requirements 
for the passing from one grade to the next higher, and this changed every time 
the district changes teachers, the reason becomes more apparent. There should 
be uniformity, so that if a child has completed the seventh year's v^ork in the 
country schools and desires to enter the eighth grade in a city school, he will 
have a standing which will entitle him to enter that grade. 

In the matter of the examination of teachers, Supt. Dalton recom- 
mended that the county board of examiners be abolished; that the 
county superintendent examine all applicants and that the papers 
be forwarded to the Territorial superintendent, who should examine 
and issue certificates. This would make requirements more uniform 
and discourage the issuance of low-grade certificates, of which there 
should be three grades — first, second, and the lowest or third. The 
Territorial superintendent's office, it was urged, should be strength- 
ened, especially in the matter of supervision. The weakest points in 
the school system, as the superintendent then saw it, was the want 
of thoroughness, the overcrowded courses of study, and no definite 
plan of work. The office itself was handicapped for want of au- 
thority, lack of funds for traveling, and no proper power for the 
regulation and control of the keeping of school accounts. He urged 



70 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

that the superintendent, who was then appointed by the governor, be 
elected, and that his salary be increased (at this time it was only 
$1,200). He urged that the county superintendency be divided from 
the office of judge of probate. 

The superintendent pointed out that in the anxiety to expend all 
the funds remaining in the treasury toward the end of the year 
the committee sometimes fell into extravagance, and this was par- 
ticularly the case in the buying of charts and library books. The 
amount of money levied for school purposes was in general equal to 
the need, but now and then it was necessary to bring a writ against 
the board of county supervisors to force them to levy a school tax 
in accord with the report of the county school superintendent. 

The tendency to create new school districts with not more than 
10 pupils had produced various weak ones, which sometnnes lapsed 
for lack of attendance. 

There was little recommendation for distinctive legislation in this 
report. 

Supt. Dalton was renominated for the new term beginning in 
March, 1897, and continued without opposition, but he seems to have 
served only about one year in all, when his work was taken over by 
A. P. Shewman, who published, on January 10, 1899, his report on 
the work of the superintendent's office for the last two years. 

In his message to the assembly in 1897 Gov. Franklin discussed the 
public schools, quoted extensively from the superintendent's report, 
and pointed out that the annual cost per capita based on the number 
of children enrolled in 1895 was $17.58, and in 1896 it was $16.34. 
This was a little higher than Iowa ($15.58) and some less than New 
York ($18.97). When the cost per capita based on attendance was 
considered, the balance was against Arizona. In 1895 this was $29.94, 
and in 1896, $28.98, while in Iowa it was $24.50, It was becoming 
evident that the children of Arizona were not making the best use 
of their opportunities. 

The governor pointed out again the advisability of separating the 
county superintendent's office from that of probate judge, and now, 
after many efforts, the school authorities were to see this desire con- 
summated in the larger counties. Chapter 60 of the acts of 1897 
provided that in counties of the first class (Maricopa, Yavapai, and 
Pima) the county superintendent of schools should be a separate 
officer and should receive $1,000 a year. In the other counties the 
situation remained as it was. Special taxes to aid the university 
and the normal school were laid, and an act was passed (ch. 69), the 
first of its kind, for leasing school and university lands. 

The reports of Territorial Supt. Shewman for the years 1897 and 
1898 contain nothing of particular significance. It should be said, 
however, that the statistics now presented from year to year are in 



EEACTION AND PEOGRESS, 1887-1899. 71 

miicK better form than earlier ones and carry the clearest evidence 
that progress was being made along most lines, although this progress 
was not uniform nor always where most needed. Thus the superin- 
tendent says that the Territorial board of education " realized the 
importance of a uniform course of study " but had been " more or 
less hampered in its work in that direction because of a lack of funds 
to pay for printing and distribution." He points out also that be- 
cause of a lack of funds the school term was only six and one-half 
months, and recommends that the rate of taxation be raised so as to 
extend the term " to allow at least eight months' school in each dis- 
trict," but, instead, in 1899 the law was so amended (ch. 56) that 
for the purposes of fifth and sixth class counties the minimum limit 
of a five-months' term was reduced to three months.^ This term 
was to be uniform and " as far as practicable with equal rights and 
privilege." 

The high-school idea as embodied in the law of 1895 was not mak- 
ing progress. The superintendent discusses further the necessity 
of a compulsory attendance law. About 25 per cent of the children in 
the Territory were not even enrolled ; of those enrolled the attendance, 
as the statistics given in the supplementary tables at the end will 
show, was low; and this failure was due, in the mind of the super- 
intendent, to the lack of real compulsion. 

When the period of 12 years from 1887 to 1899 is reviewed as a 
whole, it appears that there was growth, not with matured, well- 
directed, intelligent development, but the undirected growth that 
comes with increasing population and wealth, developing resources 
and ambition to provide the best possible opportunities for the in- 
coming school population. In 1890 there were 55,734 white per- 
sons in the Territory ; in 1900 this number had grown to 92,903, indi- 
cating an increase of nearly 70 per cent. A large proportion of 
these immigrants were from States where successful educational sys- 
tems were already in operation, and they demanded similar privi- 
leges for their children in their new homes. They found a system 
in operation, but it was often the football of politics, often without 
expert direction, sometimes without direction at all. The schools 
existed because the children were there and money for schools was 
available. The system had been organized, and it now rumbled on 
without particular aid, but with some important developments and 
a more or less steady growth during the period. Thus in 1886-87 
the school population was 10,303 ; in 1898-99 it was 19,823. The per 
cent of enrolhnent stood at 58.6 in 1888-89 and 80.2 in 1898-99 : the 
average attendance based on school population for the same years 

1 This was intended to meet special conditions in Apache County, where the refusal 
of the Santa Fe Pacific Railroad Co. to pay its taxes for 1898 had brought on a crisis 
in school affairs. After the trouble was settled the repeal of the' law was recommended. 



72 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

was 34.1 and 47.4 per cent, respectively, and when based on enroll- 
ment, 58.9 and 59.1 per cent. When these statistics are studied for 
the whole period it will be seen that, while there were ups and downs 
in enrollment and attendance, the general progress was upward. In 
these matters the Territory during the period compares well with 
some of the States. The total receipts rose from $159,956 in 1885-86 
to $295,884 in 1898-99; the total expenditures from $135,030 to 
$241,556 in the same years, and school property from $176,238 to 
$490,504. The schools had increased from 169 to 347; the teachers 
from 175 to 373. Salaries, however, had fallen from $81 to $67.77 
per month, this being due in part at least to a general fall in prices; 
and the school term fell from 143 days to 127 days. Laws had been 
passed providing for the organization of school libraries and high 
schools, and some progress had been made on those lines, but in gen- 
eral the schools were going on in the same way in 1898-99 as they 
were in 1887-88. They needed systematic organization, correlation 
of i)arts, and authoritative supervision. 



Chapter VII. 

FURTHER GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT DURING THE TERRITORIAL 
PERIOD, 1899-1913. 



During the remaining years of Territorial life there were four 
separate administrative periods, filled by three individuals. These 
superintendents and their terms of office were : 

Eobert L. Long, second term, who succeeded A. P. Shewman on 

February 27, 1899; reappointed March 19, 1901, and served till 

July 1, 1902, when he resigned. 
Nelson G. Layton, July 1, 1902 ; reappointed January 30, 1903, and 

resigned January 1, 1906. 
Robert L. Long, third term, January 1, 1906, to March 6, 1907; 

reappointed and served to March 17, 1909. 
Kirke T. Moore, appointed March 17, 1909, and served till the 

admission of the Territory as a State. He was succeeded by 

Charles O. Case, March 12, 1912. 
In the eyes of Gov. Murphy the schools were in excellent condition 
in 1899. In his message of that year he says : 

The university at Tucson and the normal school at Tempe are highly credit- 
able institutions, and of incalculable benefit to the Territory. The managements 
show a very high order of ability, entirely satisfactory to their patrons. The 
advantages of an advanced educational system can hardly be overestimated. 
Our common schools can not be excelled anywhere in the Union. 

Since such was thought to be the condition of the schools already, 
the governor naturally contented himself with what had been accom- 
plished. He failed entirely to make any proposals for a wider use- 
fulness for them. 

The first act of this legislature looking to the schools was one 
enacting a new compulsory school law. This law differed little from 
the acts of 1875 and 1889. The length of attendance required was 12 
weeks, against 16 in 1875 ; the exemptions were liberal and generous 
and could be met by almost any person who wanted to keep his chil- 
dren out of school, and while prosecution and fines were demanded 
against slackers, there were no special funds or special officers pro- 
vided for its enforcement. 

An act making for progress was one "to establish free public 
libraries and reading rooms." It applied only to cities of over 5,000 
inhabitants, and provided for an annual tax (after the proposal had 
been accepted by a majority of the taxpayers of the city) of not 

73 



74 



PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 



more than one-half mill on the dollar (5 cents on the hundred) for 
the purchase of books and other publications and for erecting build- 
ings. The moneys raised by tax or received by gift were to be a dis- 
tinct fund and were to be controlled by a board of five trustees, 
who were to organize the library and set its machinery in motion. 
Under this law the libraries in the cities began a course of devel- 
opment, followed to some extent by those in the smaller country 
districts. 

During the following years library progress was not satisfactory, 
however, for the library expenditure of money was confined to dis- 
tricts with more than 100 census children. The expenditures in 
1906-7 were $787.43, and $963.02 in 1907-8. In all, 6,084 books were 
added during the two years, a part coming from donations and others 
being purchased out of the proceeds of entertainments given by te:M h- 
ers and pupils in the smaller schools. The superintendent then rec- 
ommended that the library allowance be changed from the $50 per 
year then allowed to the larger districts to $100 per year, and thiit 
the smaller districts at that time receiving nothing for libraries bo 
permitted to spend 5 per cent of their income for that purpose. 

This development may be presented statistically as follows, so far 
as their progress is shown by the reports : 

Growth and value of school libraries. 



Years. 


Amount 
expended. 


Number of 
volumes. 


Value of 
libraries. 




$169.00 
184.00 
667.93 
732.22 
246. 61 
2,181.51 
286.79 
477. 59 
366.46 
357. 55 
433.41 
477.03 






1889-90 






1894-95 






1895-96 




■ 








1897-98 1 






1898-99 . .... 






1899-1900 








9,922 

15; 566 
16,819 
17, 505 
18,291 
19, 999 
24, 265 
32,018 
30,493 
32, 941 

43^126 
42,808 




1901-2 




1902-3 




1903-4 




1904-5 




1905-6 




16' 585 


1906-7 


787.43 
963. 02 


17, 724 


1907-8 






1911-12 




24 959 


1912-13 













1914-15 






1915-16 . 













1 Includes items expended for other purposes. 

TheHowell code of 1864 had provided for a Territorial library. The law governing that institutionwas 
amended from time to time. By chapter 62, session of 1915, the State library was to establish a law and 
legislative bureau. The State librarian was to be its director, form a collection of Statenewspapers,and 
make a biennial report. 



I. SECONDARY ADMINISTRATION OF ROBERT L. LONG, 18 89-1902. 

On February 27, 1899, Mr. Eobert Lindley Long, who had been 
superintendent in 1885-1887, was again nominated and confirmed as 
Territorial superintendent. To him as much as to any other man the 



GROWTH IN THE TEREITORIAL PERIOD^ 1890-1912. 75 

real organization of the system in 1885 was due. He had then been 
colaborer with William B. Horton in organizing the school system 
of the Territory. Before their day there had indeed been public 
schools in Arizona and even a Territorial superintendent, but there 
had been no real public school system. During the years between 
1883 and 1887 it was the work of these two men to coordinate the 
independent and more or less disjointed units which had been grow- 
ing up throughout the Territory and organize them into a single 
working whole. This was done by drafting a single body of school 
law applicable to the whole Territory, by preparing a course of 
study under which it was possible to grade the schools, and by lay- 
ing the foundations for systematizing the work of teacher training 
by developing and leading the sentiment looking to the organization 
and endowment of the normal school at Tempe and the State uni- 
versity at Tucson ; and now, after an interval of 12 years, Mr. Long 
came again into office to resume the interrupted thread of work. 

In his report submitted in October, 1900, he mentions the organi- 
zation of 13 new school districts during 1899 and 1900, and from this 
small number concludes that the smaller settlements then had school 
facilities " equal to those enjoyed by the more populous sections of 
the Territory." This was approximately true. The schools had in- 
creased from 347 in 1898 to 399 in 1900, and 10 schools had been ad- 
vanced from the rank of primary to that of the grammar grades. 
There were now 122 grammar schools, and 21 new school buildings 
had been erected. There was, however, as yet only one high school 
organized under the law of 1895. This was at Phoenix, in which 
three courses, Latin, English, and business, had been provided. The 
first two were four-year courses, the third a three-year course. 

The poll tax was falling off, possibly because of the failure of col- 
lectors in enforcing the law. The situation of the county school 
superintendents was not satisfactory, for those in the larger coun- 
ties — Yavapai, Maricopa, and Pima — while receiving $1,000 each 
for their services, were required to visit their schools twice a year 
and at the end had paid out three-fourths of their salary as traveling 
expenses, and so really received less than those in the more thinly 
settled counties, where the salary was $300 per year only. 

For the first time in the history of Arizona the superintendent 
prints reports from the individual counties, so that we have detailed 
reviews of the working of the system in the smaller units, which 
show in general a steady development. Supt. Long now emphasized 
the work of the county institutes. The law required them to be held 
for three days only in the strongest counties, while the union of two 
or more counties was permitted in other cases. Institutes were held 
in all counties but four, and these were sparsely settled. As it was, 
some of the teachers traveled 100 miles to attend and in one instance 



76 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

as much as 250 miles. Notwithstanding these difficulties the meet- 
ings were well attended, the programs were well filled, and much 
interest was manifested. It would appear that they were now be- 
coming of real value to the system and had already contributed to 
the organization of the teaching forces. 

As if taking up the school question where he had dropped it 12 
years before, Supt. Long again turned his attention to the course of 
study which had been originally outlined and put into use during 
his earlier administration, in 1885-1887, but abandoned under Strauss. 
From that time to 1899 the schools had gone on their uneven and 
creaking way Avithout rudder or compass. The new course of study 
as prepared by Supt. Long was adopted by the board of education 
on September 26, 1899, and was published and distributed among the 
teachers. At the same time a course of study for the new Union 
High School of Maricopa County, at Phoenix, was approved. 

The examination questions for the use of the county boards of 
examiners were prepared quarterly, printed, and forwarded to the 
proper officers in time for the regular examinations in March, June, 
September, and December. New rules for the government of the 
county boards in giving these examinations were now adopted, and 
the questions themselves were large in number and searching in char- 
acter. The fact that 277 teachers out of 399 were holding life, edu- 
cational, or first-grade certificates indicates that the qualifications of 
teachers were rising. During the two years there were granted 21 
educational diplomas, 5 life diplomas, and 18 certificates granted on 
diplomas, and 27 Territorial certificates. 

The development in the growth of statistics during this period 
shows great progress over earlier years. These are now so complete 
that they begin to be of real service in a study of the Territory. 

Mr. Long was again nominated by Gov. Murphy for the office of 
superintendent on March 19, 1901, and continued to serve in that 
capacity until July 1, 1902, when he resigned. Nelson G. Layton was 
nominated by Gov. Brodie and confirmed as his successor. 

II. ADMINISTRATION OF NELSON G. LAYTON, 19 2-1906. 

Under the system of appointment in use in Arizona the general 
supervision of the schools was made subject to the whim of the gov- 
ernor every two years, and during the nineteenth century it was 
customary for each governor to change the school superintendent, 
in this way subjecting the schools to a succession of new men who, 
however well disposed and anxious to serve the schools, were hardly 
through the initiatory stages of office before called on to vacate for 
another, who began not where they left off but where they began. 
This constant change was always a cause of serious interruption 
to the progress of the schools. With the beginning of the present 



GROWTH IN THE TERRITORIAL PERIOD,, 1899-1912. 77 

century, however, the tendency has been toward longer terms of 
service, with more satisfactory results. Mr. Layton published the 
report of Mr. Long for the two years ending June 30, 1902, as well 
as his own report for the period ending June 30, 1904, and Mr. Long 
returned the compliment by publishing Layton's report for June 
30, 1906. 

The early part of the period represented by these reports was one' 
of increased and progressive educational legislation. The laws 
enacted included one raising the school age. They now abandoned 
the age limit 6 to 18, and went back to 6 to 21. This increase in age 
had its reflection in the statistics: In 1899-1900 the school popula- 
tion was 20,833; in 1900-1901, the act going into force on April 1. 
1901, it was 23,435, or an increase of 12^ per cent. The reasons 
for this extension of the school age are self-evident, and it also ap- 
pears that the people of the Territory made use of their increased 
opportunities, for the enrollment in 1899-1900 was 16,504, and in 
1901-2, the first year in which the effects of the new law would be 
fairly felt, it was 19,203, or an absolute increase of 16.3 per cent on 
the enrollment of 1899-1900; but when these figures are measured in 
per cents of the school population it is found that in 1899-1900, 
79.2 per cent was actually enrolled, while in 1901-2 this had fallen to 
76 per cent ; further, the average attendance based on enrollment fell 
from 61.6 per cent to 59.9 per cent, and average attendance based on 
school population fell from 48.8 per cent to 41.6 per cent. There 
was a compulsory law in force during these years, but it either did 
not or could not compel attendance. It was reported by the superin- 
tendent that in 1901 there were 5,967 school children who were not 
even enrolled during the year, and in 1902 this number had grown, 
in part because of the extended school age, to 7,104. The same loss 
of motion is shown in the statistics of cost. In 1901 the cost per 
capita of school population was $14.63 ; in 1902 it was $15.11. During 
the same period the cost per capita as based on enrollment was $19.15 
and $19.41, showing that enrollment under the new law was keeping 
fairly close to that under the old ; but when attention is directed to 
the cost per capita as based on average attendance, it was found to 
be for 1901 $30.66, while in 1902 it had run up to $34.82. In other 
words, the Territory was paying, because of poor attendance, more 
than $2 for every dollar's worth of service that it received. The 
compulsory law was a delusion and a snare; the Territory was paying 
out money for schools; the educational feast was spread; but like 
those in the days of Scripture the ones invited to this marriage feast 
of education were willing to give an attendance of less than 50 per 
cent. 

In 1901 the assembly repealed the provision for the count}^ board 
of examiners. This repeal went into effect April 1, 1901, and did 



78 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN" ARIZONA. 

away with county certificates on the expiration of the time for which 
they were originally granted. The examinations for certificates were 
still to be gi^en at the county seat and were conducted by the county 
superintendents. The papers were then forwarded to the Territorial 
board of examiners for grading. The successful applicant received 
a Territorial certificate entitling him to teach in any public school in 
the Territory. Said the superintendent : 

By this method a more nearly uniform system of grading and certification is 
assured, which in my opinion lias a tendency to elevate the standard of our 
public schools to a higher plane. 

Rules and regulations making exact provisions for taking these 
examinations were provided for, but the questions themselves do not 
appear to be as difficult as those set in the former administration. 
Graduates of the Territorial normal schools were, on request, granted 
Territorial certificates without examination. 

In his introduction to this period, the superintendent said : 

It is with pride that I am able to report the improvement in our system of 
schools, the keen interest manifested by our people in the education of our 
future citizens, and the earnest effort on the part of the teachers as a whole in 
their endeavor to raise our schools to a higher plane. 

In 1901 the rate of taxation in the counties for schools was raised 
from 30 cents to 50 cents on the hundred. By this act the county in- 
come was considerably increased, and that year the income from the 
Territorial school fund was practically doubled, being $11,458 in 1901 
and $22,951 in 1902 ; but, on the other hand, the poll tax fell from 
$46,554 to $23,943. The superintendent urged the necessity " of a 
library of carefully selected books in each school in the Territory." 

An act of 1903 revised, defined, and extended somewhat the duties 
of the Territorial superintendent.^ He was to superintend the schools, 
to apportion school funds, and audit the expenditure of the same, 
whether Territorial, county, or district. He was to prescribe forms 
and regulations and send them out to teachers and others, publish a 
biennial report, and print the school laws. 

Another act of 1903- permitted the trustees in districts with a 
population of 1,000 or over, at their discretion, to employ teachers 
of music and drawing. In 1905 this act was extended to all school 
districts.^ 

During this period occurred the World's Fair at St. Louis, in 
which the schools of the Territory were represented. Specimens of 
the work done throughout the Territory were collected; these speci- 
mens represented the actual work done by the pupils under the pre- 
scribed Territorial course of study. Each piece of work bore the 

1 Ariipona session laws, 1903, ch. 89. 
'Ibid., 1903, ch. 46. 
8 Ibid., 1905, ch. 12. 



GROWTH IN THE TERRITORIAL PERIOD, 1899-1912. 79 

name of the pupil, his age and grade, and name of the school to 
which he belonged. There were also shown many pictures of school 
buildings. The exhibit as a whole attracted much attention. Mrs. 
E. E. Ford, who had the exhibit in charge, reported : 

It has been a great surprise to the eastern people to see that we are doing 
the same work in our Arizona schools that they are doing here in the East. 
Our work compares most favorably with that of other schools in the same 
grades, and I have taken the time to examine other work that I might satisfy 
myself as to the merits of our own. In many cases I realize that our maps, 
language, work, and drawings are superior to that from many other schools. 
Many teachers come in to copy and to ask questions about Arizona schools. 

The superintendent has only words of praise for the normal 
schools : 

I can say without fear of successful contradiction that the work accomplished 
by these schools is equal to, and in many instances surpasses, the work done by 
similar schools in older States and communities. 

Of the 457 teachers, 148 had life or educational diplomas, 162 
first-grade and 147 second-grade certificates. During the year, out 
of 168 who took the examinations, 17 received first-grade and 90 
second-grade certificates; 108 graduates of the normal schools re- 
ceived diplomas without examination. 

During this period a second high school was organized under the 
act of 1895 and located at Mesa, and a third at Prescott. Since the 
imiversity and the two normal schools were also doing this class of 
work, it may be said that there were then six high schools in the 
Territory, one in the south (university) , three in the middle (Union, 
Mesa, and Tempe), and two in the north (Prescott and Flagstaff). 

The dependence of school districts on bonds as a means of build- 
ing schoolhouses was increasing in importance. The total outstand- 
ing bonds in 1900-1902 amounted to $291,737.84, and in 1902-1904 
to $355,737. The highest and prevailing rate of interest th n paid 
was 7 per cent; in 1903-4 the average was 6 per cent, while the 
newer bonds were being issued at a rate as low as 5 per cent. They 
were generally for small amounts, and in 1903-4 were issued by 11 
counties. 

The whole administration of Supt. Layton may be characterized 
by sajdng that it was one of slow but steady and fairly uniform 
growth. There were no particular developments ; the superintendent 
presented no brilliant or striking administration, but the schools 
continued to grow and develop in number; the teachers and pupils 
continued to increase, and the law was coming by slowly cumulating 
effort to suit itself to the needs of the country. The slow and steady 
growth made for the constant extension of the schools. The char- 
acter of this development is brought out clearly in the statistics. 
There are in these years no separate reports from the counties. 



80 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

III. THIRD ADMINISTRATION OF ROBERT L. LONG, 1906-19 09. 

Mr. Layton resigned and was succeeded January 1, 1906, by Mr. 
Robert L. Long, who then entered upon his third and last term as 
Territorial superintendent. He was reappointed in 1907 and served 
till March 17, 1909, completing in his three terms of service a little 
more than nine years. He published reports for the bienniums of 
1905-G and 1907-8. These, appear to be, with two exceptions, the 
last printed reports issued by the department. It seems unreason- 
able that the educational report of a great and growing State should 
be less full and far less available, now that it has attained statehood, 
than it was in the earlier days of Territorial dependence, but such 
is the case. Since the report for 1907-8 the State has not maintained 
the standard of excellence set by the Territor}'' in the matter of 
reporting on the work actually accomplished. 

The 1905 session of the Territorial legislature was not rich in 
legislation dealing with the schools. Only a few acts were passed. 
One gave funds to Graham County to restore a schoolhouse at Clif- 
ton, destroyed by the flood of February, 1905 ; another provided for 
reestablishing schools whose houses had been destroyed by violence 
like the above, while other acts provided for support of the reform 
school and for the teaching of manual training and of music and 
drawing in the schools. 

The new superintendent pointed out that the attendance on the 
schools was still — 

wholly voluntary, as the compulsory attendance law is so defective in some of 
its provisions that all attempts to enforce it have failed. If such a law is 
deemed necessary, it should compel the attendance of all children between the 
ages of 6 and 14 years during the entire time the schools are open. Habitual 
truants should be provided for at the industrial school. 

As these remarks w^ould indicate, the attendance was much as it 
had been in the past. In 1904 and 1905 the enrollment was 74.4 and 
76.8 per cent of the school population, and the average attendance as 
measured on the basis of school population was only 47.4 and 47.7 
per cent for these years, respectively ; and while this w^as much better 
than in some of the States, it was so poor and irregular that the 
Territory was still paying more than $2 for every dollar's worth of 
services received. 

In 1905, 10 new buildings were erected; in 1906 there were 12. 
Some of these were to supply the places of outgrown structures, but 
most were in new localities. Many were built on the latest and most 
approved plans, with ample playgrounds and supplied with the best 
furniture. The house at Douglas cost $15,000 and that at Bisbee 
about $70,000. Tucson paid $50,000 for a high-school building, and 
buildings of this character ancl cost were soon to become relatively 
common, / 



GROWTH IN THE TEEEITORIAL PERIOD, 1899--1912. 81 

In ca few instances these structures were erected out of the pro- 
ceeds of a direct tax, some by shortening the school term; but most 
of them came out of the proceeds of bond issues. On June 30, 1906, 
the total outstanding bonds issued for school purposes was $490,937, 
with interest varying between 5 and T per cent. In many of the 
grammar grades, classes corresponding in a general way to the first 
and second high-school years were maintained. These higher classes 
were supported out of the regular district funds, and numbered 302 
pupils in 1905, and 419 in 1906. While they militated against the 
lower grades, they were authorized by the board of education to 
meet the practical demands of the small towns which could not sup- 
port a high school. There were now regularly organized high 
schools at Prescott, Phoenix, Mesa, Clifton, and Morenci, organized 
under the law of 1895, and supported entirely by special tax. They 
followed a regular course of study, which admitted to the University 
of Arizona. In 1905 they had 332 pupils and in 1906, 342. The in- 
come and expenditures in the last year exceeded $21,480. 

Manual training was first permitted in the schools by chapter 20, 
acts of 1905. This law authorized any school to give instruction in 
manual training and domestic science, " provided that such subjects 
can be pursued without excluding or neglecting the subjects pre- 
viously provided for by law." Districts with 200 children of school 
age might employ one teacher of these subjects for each 100 pupils 
in average attendance. These teachers were to be paid out of a 
special tax levied in the school district. Graduates of manual train- 
ing or domestic science schools, with at least one year's experience, 
might be licensed to teach; others must pass such examination on 
these subjects as the board of education might prescribe. 

In the matter of teachers the number was gradually increasing 
with the demand, and salaries were improving, taking a sudden jump 
in 1905-6 of $8.09 over the monthly pay of the year before. The 
salary of women teachers was not keeping up with that of men, for 
it increased only $1.51 per month in three years. 

The income of the Territorial school fund was growing. It was 
based on a 3 cent tax on the $100 of taxable property ; on a tax on 
insurance companies doing business in the Territory, and on the 
rentals on school lands, which amounted in 1906 to $5,800.56. The 
county funds were also increasing, and the school poll tax demanded 
of all persons between 21 and 60 years of age, whether citizens or 
aliens, produced in 1906, $74,818. 

While there was sufficient money for the support of the schools 
handsomely, it was complained that under the system of distribution 
then in use — 

the small districts were unable to maintain school for 6 months, while the 
larger ones maintain sessions for 8 or 10 months during the year. It is sug- 
61563°— 18 6 



82 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

gested that the fixed amounts now allowed these schools be increased from $400 
and $500 to $500 and $600, respectively. The same results would be attained 
if the present allowances to these schools were lowered to $200 and $250, and the 
districts be permitted to share in the apportionments based on the daily attend- 
ance, as now made to the other schools. 

In this report there is a return to individual statements from the 
county superintendents which give us an insight into the workings of 
the school system in its various parts and the difficulties which each 
was called on to face. Thus, in Apache County the difficulty was 
racial and linguistic. In some sections Spanish-speaking pupils pre- 
dominated, and when teachers came into such districts without 
acquaintance with Spanish little progress was possible. For this rea- 
son it was suggested that such teachers be required to have a practical 
knowledge of Spanish. In Navajo County it was suggested that sepa- 
rate schools be provided for Americans and Mexicans. In Cochise 
County it was desired that the compulsory age be extended from 14 
to 16 years. Gila demanded that the apportionment of school funds 
be amended. Pima suggested that the laws be so amended as to per- 
mit all schools to be open for eight months, which was impossible for 
the country districts as the law then stood, because of the lack of 
funds. 

The reports from the high and normal schools for these years were 
extremely satisfactory. They showed a development and growth 
that was fairly uniform. 

The report of the superintendent for 1907-8 was of the same gen- 
eral character as that for the two years preceding. Mr. Long was 
again appointed superintendent, and the development and growth 
were of the same character as in the former years. The most marked 
increase was in the southern counties, and was due to the increased 
activities in mining interests. 

The school law was somewhat amended in 1907, among other mat- 
ters the compulsory law. This amendment required that every 
employer of child labor should require proof, under penalty of fine, 
that any child employed had been duly excused from school attend- 
ance; and in case of children unable^ to read and write English the 
compulsory period was extended from 14 to 16 years. But, like ear- 
lier laws, there was not sufficient machinery by which the require- 
ments of this law might be enforced. 

By this same amendment the rule of apportionment was so amended 
that $500 was to go to districts with 10 to 20 children (class 1) ; $600 
to districts with 20 children or more (class 2) ; and to districts hav- 
ing an average daily attendance of 25 or more (class 3) was to be 
apportioned "$25 per capita, upon the average daily attendance in 
excess of 25 pupils." In addition to the above, schools which in- 
creased their average attendance over that of the previous year were 



GROWTH IlSr THE TEEErTOEIAL PERIOD_, 1899-1912. 83 

entitled to certain reserve funds, but no district was to be entitled 
to funds which had not kept its school open for six months during 
the previous year. The county superintendents were now allowed 
$250 per year for traveling expenses, while the office of the Territorial 
superintendent, hitherto peripatetic in accord with the convenience 
of the holder, was to be in the capitol and the salary increased to 
$2,000. No part of the school funds received from Territorial or 
county apportionments could be used for the payment of interest or 
principal of bonds or in the purchase of real estate for school pur- 
poses. 

The institutes were now allowed for their support 5 per cent of the 
county funds assigned to education, in addition to the fee of $2 
charged for the teachers' examination for certificate. The institute 
session was not to exceed five days nor be less than three. 

Districts having over 1,000 census children might now employ a 
supervising principal, and two or more contiguous districts might 
jointly employ such principal. Small schools with an average at- 
tendance of less than eight pupils were to be suspended and the 
district allowed to lapse. 

The Territorial superintendent was under the impression that the 
compulsory school attendance law as amended in 1907 was respon- 
sible for the reduction in school absentees from 19 per cent in 1907 to 
16 per cent in 1908. Since that date, if the figures of the super- 
intendent's report are to be relied on, there has been a still further 
reduction in the absentees. The figures for recent years are by no 
means complete or uniform, but they show a relative high record of 
enrollment and average attendance. 

Of this situation in 1907-8 the superintendent said : 

The bad showing that 5,463 children under 21 years of age were not in school 
last year is more apparent than real, however. It is well known that a large 
percentage of pupils, especially boys, leave school to earn a livelihood before 
they reach the age of 21. Indeed, the average age throughout the country is 
estimated at 14 years, when pupils quit the public schools. Those who com- 
plete the high-school course graduate at about the age of 18. Hence it is 
manifest that, as the census comprises all pupils between the ages of 6 and 
21, it will include many who have not attended school that year but who never- 
theless have completed the entire course of study of both the grammar and 
the high school. 

Of the per cents of those out of the public schools during these 
years it should be said that for the purposes of this study those who 
were enrolled in private schools are treated the same as if they were 
not in school at all. The number who actually attended no school 
in 1906-7 was 6,505, or 19.6 per cent; in 1907-8 it had been reduced 
to 5,463, or 15.9 per cent; in 1912-13 and 1913-14 the corresponding 
figures were 8,743 and 10,833, being 18.5 and 20 per cent of the total 



84 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

school population at that time. In 1914—15 and 1915-16 the figures 
were 7,246 and 2,814, or 13 per cent and 4.6 per cent entirely out of 
school. 

The remarks of Mr. Long on the compulsory law in 1907-8 ap- 
parently serve as accurately for later dates. He then said : 

The average daily attendance on the schools shows but little, if any, increase 
in percentage over preceding years. The compulsory attendance law, though 
but poorly enforced in many localities, has evidently brought into the schools 
a large number of children, but there seems to have been difficulty in keeping 
them in school, as shown by reports of the daily attendance. The law at 
present is only useful for its moral effect. Perhaps the best inducement, after 
all, for parents to send their children to school is to convince them that the 
schools are worth attending. When this has been done there will be no need 
of compulsory attendance laws, which, at best, are regarded by many as un- 
American. 

The large increase in school population was creating a demand 
for more school buildings ; 8 new ones were erected in 1907 and 29 in 
1908. The aggregate cost of these 37 buildings was $184,000, most 
of it being expended in the growing cities of the Territory and much 
of it for high-school facilities. The reapportionment of school 
funds under the revised law of 1907 increased the school term from 
128.4 days in 1907 to 135 days in 1908. This increase was entirely in 
the small country schools. The cities had already attained to terms 
of 9 and 10 months. 

The city schools as covered in this report show steady develop- 
ment and progress. Most of them had now organized high schools 
to complete and round out their courses, and these high schools were 
becoming more and more complete in themselves, and the one in 
Prescott had been placed on the accredited lists of Michigan, Cali- 
fornia, and Vassar. Their course, however, had not yet been made 
uniform and, while they supplied the needs of the larger towns, they 
had not as yet, with two exceptions only attempted to cater to the 
more rural population and it was not till about 1914 that the, dis- 
tinctly rural high school appeared. 

During this period there was no upheaval nor extensive change in 
the administration of the schools. No such violent change was 
needed or desired. Taken as a whole the schools continued their 
gradual evolution upward ; changes were made here and there in the 
details of administration as necessity seemed to demand. The funds 
for the smaller county schools were increased to some extent by 
larger apportionments, and the increjised length of term and better 
schools tended to induce a better attendance of pupils, the teachers 
were better paid, and perhaps in no other State was there as little 
trouble in raising the necessary funds as in Arizona. These seem 
to have been well expended, and the general progress was steadily 
upward. 



GROWTH IN THE TEERITOEIAL PERIOD, 1899-1912. 85 

IV. ADMINISTRATION Or KIRKE T. MOORE, 1901-1912. 

On March 17, 1909, Mr. Long as Territorial superintendent was 
succeeded by Kirke T. Moore, who continued to hold the reins of 
office until the Territory became a State. There was during these 
years little of moment or significance. The schools had been given 
their peculiar turn and were now developing steadily. There was 
little educational legislation, but it was of no slight significance. 
One act provided for uniform courses of study in the normal schools 
at Tempe and Flagstaff, and these were to be prescribed by the board 
of education.^ The training schools provided at the normal schools 
as part of their regular work were now formally recognized as a 
part of the public school system. 

It was now provided also that negro pupils might be segre- 
gated when the proper authorities thought it desirable and the 
number of such pupils exceeded eight in any school district, provided 
they were furnished equal accommodations. In the earlier reports 
there is only one record of negro children — 28 in 1883. Later reports 
begin in 1902-3 and run as follows : 

1902-3 , 129 

1903-4 167 

1904^5 157 

1905-6 171 

1906-7 210 

1907-8 274 

These pupils, scattered throughout the Territory, had been taught 
with other pupils, but as their numbers increased, an agitation for 
segregation began. The matter was taken up in the assembly of 
1909 and discussed. The bill was vetoed by the governor, but was 
passed over his veto.^ Then it was taken to the courts, coming up on 
appeal from the third judicial district (Maricopa County), where a 
suit for injunction had been tried before Judge Edward Kent and 
granted. The case was taken to the highest court by the school board 
and is reported as Dameron, et al., aj^pellants, v. Samuel F. Bayless, 
appellee. It is reported in 14 Arizona, 180. The constitutionality of 
the act of 1909 was attacked on the ground that it was " a denial of 
the equal protection of the law." It was shown that the building 
used for the negro school was the newest, best constructed, and most 
sanitary of all the school buildings in the district ; that its equipment 
was equal if not superior to the others and that the pupils received 
more attention, because the attendance was smaller, than they re- 
ceived in the white schools; and that the course of study was the 
same. The conclusion of the court was in substance that " equality 
and not identity of privileges and rights is what is guaranteed to the 

iSess. Acts, 1909, ch. 58. « Ibid., cli. 67. 



86 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

citizens." The judgment of the lower court was reversed and the 
case remanded with directions to vacate the injunction and dismiss.^ 
Ne statistics giving later figures on this phase of public school work 
have been seen. 

In November, 1910, the Territorial Teachers' Association ap- 
pointed a committee, consisting of Kirke T. Moore, the Territorial 
superintendent; John D. Loper, city superintendent; and A. J. 
Matthews, superintendent of the Tempe Normal School, to rewrite 
" the entire school law in order to incorporate the new recommenda- 
tions and to correct existing ambiguities and irregularities." When 
the committee first met the proposed State constitution was pending 
and it was decided to await the completion of the constitution before 
the school law was taken up, the proposed amendments to the school 
law being published in the meantime in the Arizona Journal of Edu- 
cation for the purpose of information. The ultimate result of these 
conferences and revisions was the school law as it appeared in the 
school code of 1913. 

Mr. Moore was the last superintendent under the Territorial 
regime. He was reared in Tucson and was educated at the Uni- 
versity of Arizona and at the Leland Stanford, where he took a 
degree in law. He opened a law office in Tucson and maintained 
it through a partner while performing the duties of Territorial 
superintendent of public instruction. He went out of office with 
the inauguration of the new State officers and returned to the law 
on March 12, 1912. He had, in the meantime won from his con- 
temporaries the reputation of " a good and faithful officer." The 
Arizona Journal of Education in its issue for October, 1911, says:^ 

Mr. Moore will have served as superintendent of schools almost three years. 
During his term of office he has w^orked with a rare degree of fidelity and has 
shown great resourcefulness in handling the work with the small equipment 
of funds that the Territory furnishes. He has brought dignity and business 
methods to his office and in dealing with the schools he has shown tact and 
skill. No one has ever brought against him a charge of indifference or neglect, 
and everywhere he has appeared he has inspired confidence in his fairness and 
wisdom. While he is not a trained educator, he has still shown knowledge as 
well as wisdom in his dealings with the schools. He is especially characterized 
by common sense and good judgment, and those traits go a long way in bring- 
ing success anywhere. His management only shows how much of school work 
can be done by them. 

The days preceding statehood also saw the evolution of the latest 
form of the course of study. This course, proposed and adopted by 
the Territorial board of education, is much fuller than any of the 
preceding courses and contains many elaborated suggestions and di- 
rections. Special attention was given in its compilation to the prep- 

* Sec. 14, Arizona Reports, 180, July, 1912 ; and 123 Pacific Reporter. See also sub- 
division TI of par. 2179 of Civil Code of 1901. 

* Vol. 2, p. 93. 



GROWTH IN THE TEREITOEIAL PERIOD, 1899-1912. 87 

aration of book lists for supplementary reading and reference for 
pupils and progressive teachers. The course was drawn up to suit 
the work of graded schools covering eight years of nine months each 
and toward the realization of which all schools in the Territory were 
working. The scope of the year's work is stated at the beginning and 
this is followed by a detailed month by month plan, but the appor- 
tionment of the work month by month is suggestive rather than 
mandatory ; the making of individual adjustments was wisely left to 
principals and teachers. The course was expected to give the more 
general satisfaction because it was not the work of the board alone, 
but in reality represents the combined experience and wisdom of 
some 50 teachers of the Territory. Published in 1910, it was again 
issued in 1912, and has been since its publication the recognized basis 
of teaching in the public schools of the Territory and State. 

In 1911-12, the last year of the Territorial form of government 
for Arizona, the statistics indicated the greatest height of prosperitj'- 
to which the schools had as yet attained. The school population was 
that year 42,381, of whom 78.6 per cent were enrolled in the public 
schools, without considering the private enrollment; the average at- 
tendance when measured on enrollment amounted to 68.5 per cent, 
and of the total school population 53.8 per cent were in daily attend- 
ance for the term. The average monthly salary of the 895 men and 
women teachers was $86.58; there were 814 primary and grammar- 
grade schools and 16 high schools. The total school property was 
valued at $1,845,021. The total funds raised for school purposes 
were $1,817,647, of which $58,308 came from the Territory; $633,397 
from county and local sources; and $1,125,943 from fines and for- 
feitures, rents from lands, bonds sold, special taxes, and balances. 
There was spent for schools in all $1,321,595, of which $890,533 went 
for school maintenance. Surely here was a' Territory well capable 
of entering upon the duties of Statehood. 



Chapter VIII. 
THE FIRST STATE ADMINISTRATION OF SCHOOLS. 



• By the act of Congress of June 20, 1910, provision was made for 
the meeting of a constitutional convention in Arizona. This conven- 
tion was instructed to provide also for the election of officers for the 
new State. This election was held about December, 1911. The State 
was admitted into the Union February 14, 191^. The enabling act 
under which the State was admitted began by declaring for the main- 
tenance of a public school system to be open to all, free from sectarian 
control, and always conducted in English. Sections 16 and 36 and 2 
and 32 of the public land were set aside for an endowment, and while 
the congressional act of June 20, 1910, expressly declares that the in- 
ternal improvements act of September 4, 1841, the swamp-lands act 
of September 28, 1850, and the agricultural act of July 2, 1862, should 
not apply to Arizona, there was granted in lieu of these and all other 
donations and in addition to the four sections named above, land for 
educational purposes, as follows: 

Federal grants for education in Arizona. 

Acres. 

For the university 200, 000 

For schools and asylums for the deaf, dumb, and the blind 100, 000 

For normal schools 200,000 

For State charitable, penal, and reformatory institutions 100, 000 

For agricultural and mechanical colleges 150, 000 

For school of mines 150,000 

For military institutes 100,000 

For the payment of bonds issued by certain counties^ municipalities, 

and school districts prior to January 1, 1897 ' 1, 000, 000 

If there should be any surplus after these bonds were paid, it was to 
be added to the permanent school fund. Thus, in addition to the four 
sections in each township, there was given to the new State a total 
of 2,000,000 acres of land (or a total of more than 10,000,000 acres 
in all), most of which Avent directly to education, and there was the 
further promise of the usual 5 per cent of the net sales of public 
land by the Federal Government after the Territory had become a 
State. This sum was to be " a permanent and inviolable fund," and 

1 In addition to the above, 350,000 acres were given for matters that were only in- 
directly educational — for legislative, executive, and judicial public buildings, 100.000 
acres ; for penitentiaries, 100,000 acres ; for insane asylums, 100,000 acres ; for hos- 
pitals for disabled miners, 50,000 acres. 



THE FIRST STATE ADMINISTRATION OE SCHOOLS. 89 

the interest only was to be expended. No mortgage or other in- 
cumbrance on any part of these hinds " in favor of any person or for 
any purpose or under any circumstance whatsoever " should ever be 
f)aid. 

The constitution itself as finally drawn provided for a public- 
school system and recognized it as including the kindergarten, com- 
mon, high, normal, and industrial schools, and a university, " which 
shall include an agricultural college, a school of mines, and such 
other technical schools as may be essential." The permanent school 
fund was recognized and reaffirmed; the minimum school term was 
fixed at six months; and the method of selling the school land and 
administering the school fund was outlined. The price for irrigated 
land was fixed at $25 and of others at $3, and lands were to be neither 
sold nor leased except to " the highest and best bidder." 

A conservative estimate placed on the value of the school lands 
by the Arizona Journal of Education in December, 1911 (p. 122), 
credits the land gifts of the Federal Government to the State for edu- 
cational purposes as of a then value of $20,000,000. 

The new constitution provided that no sectarian instruction should 
ever be imparted in any school or State educational institution, and 
that no religious or political test of qualifications should be required 
as condition of admission to any public educational institution as 
teacher, student, or pupil. Further than this, the new constitution 
took the office of State superintendent out of the appointive group 
and made it an elective one, and since political parties were already 
organized in the Territory the race for the superintendency in 1911 
was made by Prof. Claude D. Jones and Supt. C. O. Case. Mr. Case 
won and became the first superintendent of public instruction for the 
new State of Arizona. Mr. Case is a native of Illinois and was edu- 
cated at Hillsdale College, Mich. He taught in Kansas and then went 
to California. He came to Arizona in 1889 ; settled in Phoenix and 
taught almost continuously for 25 years. He has been superintendent 
of schools in Globe, Mest, Prescott, and Jerome; he taught English 
in the Prescott High School; was principal of the high school at 
Phoenix and organized its commercial department. He is also known 
by his writings, for he has been a contributor of poems and stories 
to coast magazines. These have brought favorable criticism and 
have served to spread abroad the reputation of Arizona schools and 
teachers.^ 

Mr. Case entered upon his duties with the organization of the 
new State administration March 12, 1912, and upon duties in a field 
which was not new or unorganized, but it was the privilege of the 
first State superintendent to take up the subject where his predecessor 

* Arizona Journal of Education, December, p. 123. 



90 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

had left it and the transition from Territory to State made little 
difference in the administration of schools. Mr. Case made a 
preliminary report for the State to the first State legislature; has 
published two biennial reports, 1913-14 and 1915-16, a perusal of 
which will indicate the course taken in the development of State 
education during the more recent years. 

Writing in 1914 the superintendent pointed out that for the 
biennium then reported the public schools had made " commendable 
progress," and this may well be the characterization of the whole 
period. The " spirit of interest and progressiveness " was active and 
the outlay of money was greater than during the Territorial period, 
but as the superintendent points out, there was not, at this time, final 
authority for the interpretation of the school law. It was urged that 
the superintendent of public instruction — 

make such interpretations and render such opinions and that these, when given 
by him and approved by the attorney general of the State, should be held to 
be correct and final until set aside by a court of competent jurisdiction or by 
subsequent legislation. 

Another phase of the activities of the new school spirit are the 
efforts now being made to standardize the schools. For this pur- 
pose the interests of all parties who are engaged in school work, 
teachers, trustees, patrons, county superintendents, and others must 
be brought into a working whole. The school first secures a place 
on the probationary list when it can make 75 per cent on the stand- 
ard school points; when a score of 85 per cent has been attained the 
school has become a standard school, while a grade of 95 per cent 
puts it down as a superior school. Points counted in this evolution 
cover school grounds and buildings, teachers, school board, and 
pupils. 

This attempt at standardizing had, no doubt, a good effect on 
building. During the years just preceding admission as a State 
there had been little money spent for school buildings. This decline 
was now more than made good, the expenditures amounting to 
$490,000 in 1913-14; to nearly $600,000 in 1914-15; and to $469,000 
in 1915-16, practically all of these sums being raised by the issue of 
bonds. 

There is a marked tendency in all the schools of the State looking 
toward making the system of public schools more and more prac- 
tical. This is shown In the constantly increasing demand for indus- 
trial education which is constantly widening the activities of the 
schools and demanding an increasing share of the public-school funds. 
The industrial departments in the high schools are doing commend- 
able work on these lines. Some have night schools as well as day 
schools. In 1911-12 there was paid out of the State school fund to 
10 high schools (including the Tempe Normal School) the sum of 



THE FIEST STATE ADMINISTRATION OP SCHOOLS. 91 

$18,401.18 for vocational work done. Since that date the payments 
have steadily increased ; in 1912-13 there was paid to 16 high schools 
(including the two normal schools at Tempe and Flagstaff) $27,- 
495.55; in 1913-14 it was $36,423.11 to 21 schools; and in 1914-15 
$44,823.89 was paid for the work done in 21 schools. The largest 
sum was $2,500, paid to each of 15 institutions; the smallest was 
$248.72, paid to the Safford schools. 

The provisions under which high schools are paid for work done 
in agriculture, mining, manual training, domestic science, and other 
vocational pursuits are based on chapter 80, second special session, 
laws of 1913, and finally by section 2797 of the school code of 1913 
it was provided that normal schools when they had satisfactory rooms 
and equipment for giving " elementary training in agriculture, min- 
ing, manual training, domestic science, or other vocational pursuits " 
should participate on the same terms as the high schools in the public 
funds devoted to that purpose. 

Another phase of the industrial education of the State is included 
under the work of the Territorial Industrial School. First provided 
for in 1893 under the title of " reform school," it led an uncertain 
existence until 1903, when its name was changed from reform to 
industrial^ and its location fixed at Benson. It was then given 
1 cent on the hundred for maintenance and 4 cents for improve- 
ments. It was reported as in satisfactory condition in 1909 and 
received that year $22,000, and the same for 1910, to be raised by 
what levy might be necessary and expended under direction of the 
board of control.^ Then came an agitation to change the school loca- 
tion; a very unfavorable report was made on its work and sur- 
roundings in 1912 2 and the agitation culminated in 1913 in an act* 
for its removal to the abandoned Fort Grant military reservation as 
soon as water rights could be secured. The State had secured from 
Congress in 1912 a grant of 2,000 acres of the old military reserva- 
tion, together with all the improvements.^ It was estimated that 
these improvements, which had originally cost $500,000, were still 
worth $225,000, and while the site was at a distance from the main 
lines of travel, the altitude, which is about 4,500 feet, the fertility of 
the soil, and its adaptability to dairying, stock raising, horticulture, 
and agriculture more tha nequaled its disadvantages, and it was 
thought that the institution should soon become self-sustaining. 

But the course of development of this school has not run as smoothly 
as it was hoped. There has been a rapid change of superintendents, 
one having proved recreant to his trust, and his successor, while of 

1 Session of 1903, ch, 72. 

2 Session of 1909, ch. 106. 

* See H. J., 1912, special session, pp. 142-149. 

* Laws of 1913, second special session, ch. 23. 
»Act of Aug. 13, 1912. 



92 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN" ARIZONA. 

" high integrity and strict morals," disagreed with the board of con- 
trol on the question of corporal punishment and was dismissed; an- 
other increased the running expenses by 72 per cent in a single year, 
and the State auditor complained that there was a tendency on the 
part of officials to conceal objectionable occurrences.^ It is frankly 
admitted that this is the most expensive of the State institutions, its 
per capita cost being considerably more than that of some other insti- 
tutions. It is conceded, however, that its location is not favorable to 
a creditable showing in this respect, while its smaller enrollment ac- 
counts for a part of this increased cost. The cost of the Industrial 
School, for both maintenance and improvements, has been as follows 
1897, $279.50; 1902, $15,375.35; 1903, $13,868.22; 1904, $25,482.18 
1907, $24,086.30; 1908, $15,129.86; 1911, $24,642.91; 1912, $26,768.87 
1913, $40,520.41; 1914, $86,088.86; 1915, $61,568.12; 1916, $42,445.15. 

The State has now also taken over and conducts the education of its 
deaf, dumb, and blind children. During Territorial days this duty 
had been performed under contract by institutions in California and 
Utah, the contract price being $350 per pupil per year. During these 
years the annual cost for this service was, as far as the reports of the 
State auditor show— 1900, $543.90; 1901, $1,770; 1902, $1,770; 1903, 
$2,337.50; 1904, $1,500. 

When the State took over this work it was located in rented build- 
ings in Tucson. The school opened with 17 pupils. It had its own 
equipment, but there was little facility for carrying on its work and 
the school was then in great need of better classrooms, reading rooms, 
sitting rooms, and a well-equipped library. In 1915-16 there were 26 
children in school, which was about half the known defectives in the 
State. The expenditures in recent years have been — 1912, $1,546; 
1913, $4,544.14; 1914, $9,610.65; 1915, $13,987.27; 1916, $14,983.67. 

The rural schools, with a population more than twice as large as 
that of the urban schools, are now doing work of such vital importance 
that expert rural supervision is becoming a necessary step " toward 
equalizing the educational advantages of city and country." ^ It was 
in accord with this idea that Dr. Neil was employed as State high- 
school inspector, but little special work has as yet been done for the 
grade schools. They aie still under the care of the county superin- 
tendent, who is, first of all, a politician and sometimes without special 
qualifications for the more professional duties of his office. In addi- 
tion to this, he generally has under his control more schools than he 

1 See auditor's reports for 1912, 1913, 1914, and 1915, where there is sharp and vlg-, 
orous, but nevertheless sound and sane, criticism of this and other institutions. 
Indeed, quite the best criticism that has been found anywhere of the Arizona public 
Institutions are these incidental notes of J. C. Callaghan, State auditor, 1912-1917. 

* The school law of 1913 provided that the county superintendent should apportion 
to each district " not less than $85 per capita upon the average daily attendance " as 
determined in a certaLn way, but no district was to receive an apportionment of less 
than $850. 



THE FIEST STATE ADMINISTEATION OF SCHOOLS. 93 

can properly administer; in some cases he does not devote all of his 
time to the work and is often without help in performing the routine 
duties of his office. 

Another topic which has agitated the school world of Arizona dur- 
ing recent years is the county unit plan. While there was county or- 
ganization to a certain extent, the plan offered in this connection 
meant still more centralization. The superintendent warns that while 
this might be good it might also be used " for the worst politics and 
abuse of power." If accepted at all, the superintendent thought that 
it should be by local option, and he approved the proposal then made 
to appoint county school commissioners and county school superin- 
tendents rather than elect them. 

Supt. Case reports that the arrangement of the matter of text- 
books was, in general, " fairly satisfactory." The law as revised in 
1913 provided for a State-wide furnishing of free textbooks and paid 
all contingent expenses. When books were adopted the law required 
them to be used for five years and did not permit that more than one 
be changed each year. This worked a hardship, for it meant practical 
adoption each year. Books were loaned to pupils and were required 
to be fumigated before being reissued. The cost of these books to the 
State when first adopted in 1913-14 was $102,033.96. This stood for a 
total of 368,866 books received during the year and meant a cost 
of $2.42 for each child enrolled and $3.62 for each in average daily at- 
tendance. The next year there was paid out $31,983.16 for 96,745 
new books and in 1915-16 a total of $33,637.60 for 122,424. The sales 
to pupils and the collection on books lost did not usually equal the 
contingent expenses of distribution. According to these figures the 
cost of supplying textbooks the first year after a new adoption was 
nearly $2,50 per pupil enrolled, and the cost of maintenance was about 
70 cents per enrolled pupil. 

The school law of 1913 provided a new section on teachers' pen- 
sions. After a service of 25 years as a teacher in the public schools, 
the State board of education may order and direct that such person be 
retired and paid an annual pension of $600 out of the school fund of 
the State. The faults of this law are said to be in the main those of 
omission. There is no provision for incapacity during service, for 
widows or orphans. It provides a straight pension from State 
sources, but the pension has no relation to the salary previously re- 
ceived. There is demand for a tax to meet the cost of the system. 
Among the first teachers retired under this law were Miss Elizabeth 
Post, who taught from 1872 to 1913, and Prof. Charles H. Tully, ex- 
superintendent of the schools of Tucson and secretary of the old 
Territorial Teachers' Association. 

Besides reviewing the progress which had been made since ad- 
mission as a State, the superintendent mentions in his report other 



94 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

objectives not yet attained. These include the question of a school 
accounting commission. The purpose of this proposal is to secure a 
higher degree of economy in the administration of State funds. It 
was urged that such a commission should be created by the assembly, 
and it should be its duty to unravel and straighten the " unsystematic 
and haphazard " method used in school accounting. 

It was with this state of affairs in mind that the State tax commis- 
sion took up for discussion in its report for 1914 (pp. 21-22) the 
question of State taxes for schools. It points out that there was ap- 
propriated for education in 1913, $1,026,407.50 and in 1914, $1,006,- 
537.50, these sums representing practically 55 per cent of the entire 
tax levy of the State. The sum thus appropriated for schools in 
1914 was $100,000 greater than the entire appropriations for all pur- 
poses in 1911. The primary object in creating this large school fund 
was said to be (1) to establish a fund for the purchase of free 
textbooks for all the common schools of the State and (2) for the 
creation of an additional fund " sufficient in amount so that such 
counties as Graham and Santa Cruz, having a large school population 
and at that time a small assessed valuation, could make it possible 
to maintain their schools for the entire school year." 

In other words the State of Arizona does what so many older 
States do — collects taxes on the basis of property valuation and im- 
mediately redistributes them on the basis of school population. The 
commission remarks that the intent of the law seems to have been 
that the county levy should decrease in proportion to the amount 
received from the State ; that this has not always been the case ; that 
the tendency has been to consider the sums derived from the State 
" in the nature of an additional or gratuitous amount to that which 
had formerly been received from the county," and that in conse- 
quence the State money was in part at least lost sight of. 

The commission suggests that inasmuch as the textbook fund is 
now provided for, better results would follow " if a larger proportion 
of these funds came to the schools direct through the regular county 
channels." 

In another connection the commission pertinently remarks (p. 32) : 

If the counties individually or in conjunction with the State bought all the 
school supplies, a saving of at least 25 per cent would be secured to the taxpayer. 
Generally speaking, the school funds are too loosely handled. No adequate 
system of accounting for all expenditures is universally enforced or required. 
No comprehensive compilations of statistics are kept, so that any taxpayer 
can judge the efficiency or economy of administration. If these defects are 
cured, present leaks would stop automatically. 

Other lines of improvement still to be striven for were, in the 
opinion and recommendation of the State superintendent: (1) 
Standardization of schools; (2) certification of teachers; (3) pro- 
motion of teachers' and pupils' reading circle work; (4) enlarge- 



THE FIRST STATE ADMINISTEATION OF SCHOOLS. 95 

ment and improvement of school library districts; (5) securing an 
annual meeting of school boards; (6) other amendments for im- 
proving school laws. 

Certain other phases of public-school development demanding 
more attention in this study than they have as yet received include 
the following subjects: 

I. THE COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT. 

Since the organization of the State the question of the office and 
pay of the county superintendent has been definitely fixed. 

It will be recalled that in the early days the duties of the county 
superintendent were performed by the count}^ jndge of probate. For 
the performance of these duties he received $100 per year, serving 
ostensibly as an expense account, but in reality as payment for the 
supposed performance of the educational duties of the office. Vari- 
ous efforts were made to increase this salary, and other efforts sought 
to separate the duties of the office of judge of probate from those of 
county school superintendent. Finally, in 1897, the counties which 
had attained a valuation of more than $3,000,000 each — Maricopa, 
Yavapai, Pima, and Cochise — were erected into what was known as 
class 1 ; the offices of probate judge and county superintendent were 
separated; and the county school superintendent was allowed a 
salary, of $1,000 per year. Out of this sum he paid his own expenses, 
and the State superintendent complained that when this had been 
done he had only $250 left as salary. The Territory then allowed 
an extra $150 for expenses, and in 1907 this was raised to $250 and 
the county superintendent was required to visit each school twice 
during the year under penalty of losing $10 from his salary for each 
failure; he was, however, at liberty to deputize as a visitor "some 
competent person" residing in the neighborhood when the school in 
question was more than 75 miles from the county seat.^ 

In 1909 the salary of the probate judge and ex officio county school 
superintendent (the offices not being separated in counties of the 
second class) was fixed at $1,200, with fees. In counties of the third, 
fourth, fifth, and sixth classes, this officer as county school superin- 
tendent received a salary of $300 and in addition thereto as probate 
judge he received fees and such salary as might be fixed by the board 
of supervisors, not less than $300 nor more than $600.^ 

In 1910 the committee on the revisal of the school law purposed 
that the law be so amended that the counties be divided into three 
classes with salaries for the county superintendents of $2,400, $1,500, 
and $1,000 attached. Under this proposed law coimty superintead- 

1 Laws of Arizona, 1907, ch. 67, p. 100. * Sess. acts, 1909, cJi. 19, p. 40. 



96 



PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 



ents were excused from visiting schools when a supervising principal 
was employed.^ 

This proposal failed, however, to become a law, and in its stead 
there was passed in 1912 a law which separated the office in all coun- 
ties and fixed a schedule of pay for the school superintendents. The 
14 counties of the State were divided into 14 classes and payment 
allowed the county school superintendents as follows : ^ 

Salaries of county superintendents. 



Class. 


Counties. 


Population. 


Pay. 


Extra 
allowance 

for 
traveling 
expenses. 


\ 


Maricopa 


35 000 and over 


$2,400 
2,400 
1,500 
2,000 
1,800 
2,000 
1,200 
1,800 

600 
1,500 
1,400 
1,500 

900 
1,000 


^\o,0 




Cochise 




3 


Pima 


20,000 to 25 ,000 


(S) 


4 


Yavapai 


16,000 to 20,000 


250 






15,000 to 16,000 


(») 




Gila - .. 




300 


7 


Graham 


8,000 to 10,000 . 


150 


g 




7 500 to 8,000 


''' ^.0 






7 ,000 to 7 ,500 


10 


Pinal 


6,500 to 7,000 


250 


11 


Navajo 


6,000 to 6,500 


ffi 






5,500 to 6,000 










14 


Apache 


Less than 4,000 


250 











1 Actual traveling expenses and clerk also allowed at $100 per month. 
' Actual traveling expenses. 

' Actual traveling expenses, and deputy allowed at $75 per month only while superintendent is away 
visiting schools. 

II. ARIZONA teachers' ASSOCIATION. 

The Arizona Teachers' Association, dates from December 23, 
1892. It was first organized at Phoenix during the administration 
of Supt. Netherton, and because of lack of members usually met 
with one of the county institutes, as their objects were substantially 
similar.. This continued until 1910, when it held its nineteenth an- 
nual meeting jointly with the county institute at Douglas. It was 
estimated that 300 teachers were in attendance at that session, and 
an interesting program was offered. The principal teachers were 
from other States, and presented educational doctrines that were 
" practical, interesting, and suited to the needs of the teachers," or 
were " wholesome, uplifting, and instructive." But one paper, en- 
titled " Attic Treasures," served to enliven the meeting. This was 
a caustic criticism of the schools and their present-day methods, a 
spectacular and impassioned plea against the " more tawdry and 
showy gargoyles of modern schoolroom practice." It was not pleas- 
ing to the leaders. An editorial in the Arizona Journal of Educa- 
tion serves to illustrate the attitude of the various types of teachers. 
This was the last meeting in which the teachers' association and 
the county institutes met in joint session. 

» Arizona Jonrnal of Education, April, 1910, p. 31. 

2Sess. acts, 1912, oh. 93. 



THE FIKST STATE ADMIlSriSTEATTON OF SCHOOLS. 97 

Taken all in all the proceedings show that the teachers are becom- 
ing better organized, that they are grasping more fully the funda- 
mentals of the profession, and that they are broadening in the scope 
of their vision so as to cover primary, grammar, and high-school 
grades of instruction, together with the county board's and superin- 
tendent's phases of the work.^ 

More recent meetings of the association (the 24th session being in 
1916) have been held at the University of Arizona, and while not so 
exciting as that in 1910 have been of service in advancing the gen- 
eral cause of education,- The association at that time also indorsed 
the survey of schools in the State then about to be taken by the 
Bureau of Education. A separate survey had been already proposed. 
The association urged that the minutes of the proceedings of the 
State board of education be published; that it appoint permanent 
committees for the revision of the course of study ; that the $500,000 
common-school levy should be made permanent; that a State com- 
mittee on high-school libraries be appointed with a specified program 
of duties, to collect information and make recommendations; and 
that a permanent State educational council be established to regu- 
late and improve the course of studj^, adopt textbooks, urge consti- 
tutional changes, and fix educational policy. 

in. EDUCATIONAL JOURNALISM. 

During the closing years of Territorial life the teaching profession 
had also come to feel itself strong enough to establish a professional 
organ. The first number of the Arizona Journal of Education ap- 
peared at Phoenix for April, 1910, declaring itself to be " devoted to 
education in general and to the schools and the cause of education in 
Arizona in particular." It was to be published five times in the 
school year and was edited temporarily by T. L. Bolton, with C. L. 
Phelps and J. F. Hall as business managers. Many of the leading 
teachers gave their aid, and the journal was devoted to discussions of 
educational subjects interesting to the profession. The nine numbers 
published in 1910 and 1911 have been seen. It does not appear that 
the issues of this periodical extended beyond volume 2, the last num- 
ber seen being the issue for December, 1911 (vol. 2, No. 4). 

The next effort at school journalism was apparently The Arizona 
Teacher, of which the first number seen is that for June, 1914, being 
volume 1, No. 5. It has been continued since that date, apparently 
at irregular intervals. It is published at Tucson and the editor is 
I. Colodny, formerly a teacher in the university. Devoted to the 

1 See program printed in Arizona Journal of Education, December, 1910, I, pp. liiO- 
123, and a review of tlie proceedings in February, 1911. 

2 See proceedings in Arizona Teaclier, vol. 5, May, 1916, pp. S-15. 

61563°— 18 7 



98 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

cause of education in general, it has sought in particular to increase 
the interest in State history, to standardize schools and improve the 
condition of teachers; in the last year, however, it seems to have 
become in the main an opposition organ seeking to overthrow the 
president of the university and the State superintendent. 

IV. SCHOOL SURVEY. 

In 1915 a legislative proposal was made looking toward a gen- 
eral survey of the school system of the State.^ This movement was 
based on a favorable report looking to the same end recently made 
by the State Teachers' Association, but as soon as the appropriation 
in the bill was stricken out, the matter lost its interest to many. 
The .United States Bureau of Education was then called on to under- 
take this work in connection with the State department of public 
instruction, and its results are now being published. This survey 
included the elementary and secondary schools of the cities and 
rural communities, the State normal and the university, and its 
purpose was to find out the facts as they are, to report them fairly, 
to interpret them, and to make constructive suggestions as to im- 
provements in the general administrative school system of the State 
as a whole. While commending in general the work of the schools 
as of " high rank, comparing favorably with those of the other 
States most advanced in education," the survey points out that in 
the State- 
there is lacking the centralized administration necessary if all educational 
agencies in the State are to be kept in touch with each other and if definite 
constructive leadership is to he furnished so that State-wide progress will be 
had without unnecessary delay and expense. 

The survey then makes the following summary of its general 
recommendations : 

1. Centralization of the State school system, placing the responsibility of 
providing equal educational opportunities definitely upon the State board 
of education and the State department of education working in cooperation 
with the county boards of education and school district trustees. 

2. Reorganization of the State board of education, conferring upon it en- 
larged powers. It should be composed of seven persons, not necessarily en- 
gaged in education, appointed by the governor with the approval of the senate. 
The tei-m of oflice should be at least eight years, not more than two terms 
expiring each biennium. The State superintendent should be its executive 
officer ; all of its duties should be carried out through him. 

3. Provision for a nonpolitical State superintendent who shall be the head of 
an enlarged and more effective State department of education. He should be 

^ There has been at least one county survey — that of Maricopa County — made during 
1915-16 and published during the present year (Phoenix [1017], p. 8). This survey 
■was made at the instance of the County Teachers' Association and the Arizona State 
Taxpayers' Association, and is a strong indictment of the inefficiency of schools as con- 
dnctod on a district system and strongly recommends the county unit. 



THE FIRST STATE ADMINISTEATION OF SCHOOLS. 99 

selected and appointed by the State board of education for his particular fit- 
ness for the position. The department should have, In addition to the State 
superintendent, at least two general assistants as field agents, also a State 
school architect, and expert statistician, a chief of division of certification, and 
one person in charge of textbook distribution. 

4. Provision for county control of county school funds through county boards 
of education and nonpolitical county superintendents. The county is now the unit 
of support ; there should be In each county a county board of education charged 
with the general management of the schools of the county, composed of five 
persons not engaged in school work, elected by popular vote, the term of office 
being at least six years. The board should appoint the county superintendent, 
who should be its executive officer and the supervisor of all schools except in 
city districts employing superintendents. 

5. Reorganization of the method of apportioning State funds on a basis which 
recognizes county and local effort There should be paid to each county ap- 
proximately $200 for every teacher employed; whatever remains should be 
apportioned to the counties on the basis of the aggregate attendance. 

6. Requirements for a higher standard of general and professional edu- 
cation for teachers, a revision of the method of certification, establishment of 
a certification division in the State department of education, which would be 
also a teachers' employment bureau. 

7. Means to encourage the erection of suitable school buildings and to pre- 
vent further erection of undesirbale ones by having the plans for all school 
buildings submitted to the State department for approval. The department 
should employ a school architect. 

8. Local school organization should continue, the trustees acting as custodians 
of the school property, immediate overseers of the school, and agents of the 
county board. High-school districts and elementary school districts should be 
made coterminous by consolidating all common-school districts now located in 
union high-school districts in one district for both elementary and high-school 
purposes under the same management and control. The high schools, as well as 
elementary schools, should be supported largely by the State and county funds 
and should be free from tuition to all pupils of the county. 

9. Provision for expert supervision of rural schools. The supervision of 
the instructional work in all schools outside of those in Independent cities 
employing full-time superintendents should be under the direction of the 
county superintendent. He should be an able educator, fitted by experience and 
training, and have adequate office help and assistant supervisors when neces- 
sary. He should be selected and appointed by the county board of education 
and retained in office as long as satisfactory work is done. 

10. Reorganization of the method of handling State textbooks to prevent un- 
necessary losses. There should be one person employed in the State depart- 
ment to devote his entire time to the management of proper care and delivery 
of textbooks ; county superintendents should be responsible for the requisitions 
submitted. District clerks should be bonded and held responsible for the care 
and delivery of the books to the school. The cost of textbooks furnished to 
each county by the State should be deducted from the State funds after ap- 
portionment to the counties but before distribution. 

11. The two State normal schools should be placed under the control and 
management of the reorganized State board of education. Also this board 
should be given the control and management of the State Industrial School. 
A careful investigation should be made to determine whether a special institu- 
tion for mental defectives is needed at the present time. 



100 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

12. The teachers' pension system is not in accordance with pension schemes 
generally recognized as acceptable. It should be revised. 

13. Money for support of the State department, for teachers' pensions, and 
other special purposes should be provided by direct appropriation and not taken 
from the State school fund, 

V, CITY AND HIGH SCHOOLS. 

There has been in Arizona little differentiation between city and 
other public schools. The city schools have received the favors and 
privileges which naturally always come to the strongest districts, but 
have in other respects had a development substantially the same as 
all other schools. This similarity of all schools in Arizona is due to 
the conditions of their evolution. In the earlier days city schools 
were the only ones, for, because of the conditions of settlement, the 
character of the country itself, and the presence of Indians, settle- 
ments were largely made in compact groups; this characteristic was 
accentuated by the demands of mining, the leading business occupa- 
tion. The schools were, therefore, first organized in the towns and 
from them as a center extended to the outlying districts. They form 
the basis of the statistics from year to year. Each is organized into 
a single district with its own superintendent and one or more schools, 
with the taxing power and the authority to issue bonds. While hav- 
ing no history aside from the general history of public schools in 
the Territory and State, they have led in forward movements. In 
fact without them it would have been impossible for the history of. 
the public schools to be written, for there would have been no history 
to write. 

The city schools began with the lower grades and evolved their 
higher grades and their high schools by degrees. In December, 1882, 
Supt. M. M. Sherman reported that the advanced grade in the Tomb- 
stone schools " is prepared for high-school work which it is now 
doing in part." In the same report Supt. Sherman continued : 

Doubtless in the schools of Prescott, Phoenix, and Tucson, as well as in 
Tombstone, high-school work is being done, but some special encouragement 
should be given. * * * If in these places were created specially nurtured 
high schools, in connection with their common-school system, many students 
throughout the Territory that are now compelled to go abroad would find near 
at hand, under home influences, the higher education sought. 

Indeed, it would appear that the high school was already known 
at that time in Tucson; for, remarking on these words of Supt. 
Sherman's report, Mr. McCrea said (pp. 108-9) : 

While there was no provision in the law for secondary schools, various towns, 
among them Prescott, Phoenix, Tombstone, and Tucson, had tried to inaugu- 
rate high schools. While the school at Tucson was probably larger and more 
successful than the others, its uncertain foundation is shown by the fact that 
although such work was begun as early as 1880, but one class was ever grad- 
uated, and that not until 1893. 



THE FIRST STATE ADMINISTRATION- OF SCHOOLS. 101 

The Territorial report of 1881-82, however, speaks only of " ad- 
vanced grades " in the Tucson schools, and gives nowhere any indica- 
tion of the precise degree of advancement. No schools, classified as 
high schools, are reported in 1885-86, but there is reason to believe 
that all of the larger cities in the Territory were doing some work 
of high-school grade, although it was given in small doses and pre- 
sumably generally counted as a part of the grade work. 

In the case of Tucson it was found less necessary to develop the 
high-school grade because of the preparatory department of the 
newly organized university, which furnished all the high-school 
facilities of which the town was able to avail itself. In recent years, 
as the university becomes stronger and better organized, it has 
begun to close out its preparatory work, and this in turn is thrown 
back on the city or other high schools, from which special develop- 
ment may be expected in the near future. This is already becoming 
visible in some of the cities not only in special high-school work, 
but in general development and growth. Thus, in the case of 
Tucson itself, in 1887-88 there was a total of 528 .pupils in the 
whole school; there were 3 buildings and 11 teachers; the property of 
the district, including library and apparatus, was valued at $68,425 ; 
the receipts from taxes and rents were $15,333.95, while the total 
expenditures were $11,106.14. In 1908-9 the enrollment had in- 
creased to 2,160, and the courses offered at that time were 4-year courses 
in Latin, English, mathematics, and history, with 2-year courses in 
Spanish and German and in commercial work. By 1909-10 there 
were 5 ward schools and a high school, and there were employed 53 
teachers, 5 principals, and 3 supervisors. In that year the total en- 
rollment was 2,313. 

The enrollment in Tucson has steadily increased, necessitating 
more teachers and more buildings, until in 1915-16 it was 3,139, and 
there were 6 school buildings and 1 building rented for use as a 
colored school. There are now (1916-17) 8 principals, 4 supervisors, 
and 73 teachers, and the enrollment at the end of the sixth month 
was 3,446. During the summer of 1917 it was expected that a large 
$100,000 building would be erected in place of the Safford School, 
and four 2-room buildings and one 4-room building were to be put 
up, one of the 2-room buildings to be used as a colored school. 

The growth of another selected city school systern may be taken 
to represent the general growth and development of the whole. 

The Globe School attained an attendance of 1,362 for the jea.r 
1914-15, of whom 1,091 were in the public and 271 in the high school. 
This system adopted the six-and-six plan at the beginning of 1914. 
Under this plan the six upper grades, from the seventh to the twelfth, 
inclusive, are organized as the high school and all work is done on 
the departmental system. 



102 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

The idea has met with favor on the part of everyone. The pupils of the 
two upper grammar grades are thus given an opportunity of enjoying high- 
school privileges. They have manual training, home economics, spelling, and 
music with their older companions, and enter into all the school activities with 
them. This arrangement gives every child a variety of teachers and a chance 
to progress by subjects rather than by grade. The plan is economical and has 
saved the district several hundred dollars, as the regular high-school teachers 
have been able to handle classes in the upper grades. 

In 1915-16 the total sum expended for the first six grades was 
$37,663.41; in 1916-17, $47,174.96. The expenditures of the six 
upper grades, inchiding the high school, were $26,930.76 and 
$25,364.84, respectively. In the high school the daily average at- 
tendance was 265.1 and 306.4; the cost per capita, $99,31 and $93.96. 
In the lower grades the average attendance was 859 and 980 and the 
per capita cost $44.55 and $44.66. The estimates for the high school 
for 1917-18 are $31,694.50; for the public school, $76,280.62; total 
for the public-school system, $107,975.16. 

The public school proper is housed in six buildings, one of which 
provides a home for colored pupils. The high school has its own 
building, completed in 1904, and with modern equipment. It has 
been admitted to membership in the North Central Association of 
Colleges and Secondary Schools, a privilege highly appreciated by 
the high schools of the State. 

Because of the location of Globe in a mining section and the evi- 
dent demand for such instruction, there were established in 1916-17 
courses in geology and mineralogy. A collection of specimens for 
illustration and laboratory use has been begun. 

The high school of Douglas offers a special course of study in 
domestic science and manual training. It printed an outline of the 
work required in 1914-15. 

In Bisbee the board of education is at the present time working 
toward the six-and-six plan. This will throw the seventh, eighth, 
and ninth grades, now Imown as intermediate, along with the tenth, 
eleventh, and twelfth, into the high school. It is intended to build 
three junior high schools, and there are summer terms for backward 
and over-age pupils. In these matters Bisbee has been a leader in 
the State. On September 30, 1916, there were 2,583 pupils enrolled, 
being a gain of 243 over the corresponding period of 1915. It is 
planned to divide the school year into four terms of 12 weeks each, 
with one week's vacation between terms. When graduates of the 
Bisbee High School are employed as teachers, they have a primary 
supervisor to help them in planning and supervising their work. 
Salaries for grade teachers range from $75 to $100 for nine months.^ 

In the high school itself at Bisbee seven courses are offered — 
college preparatory, business, art, manual training, domestic science. 



Arizona Teacher, February, 1917, pp. 15-17. 



THE FIRST STATE ADMINISTRATION OF SCHOOLS. 103 

general, and scientific. Twelve teachers are employed, and a night 
school is conducted, open to all, and with an enrollment of 267 
(1916-17), many of whom are adults, including foreigners. The 
school has a library of over 2,000 volumes.^ 

In the earlier days there was no necessity for differentiating be- 
tween the various normal parts of a city system. The grammar and 
high-school grades came up as the different parts of a single whole. 

The beginning of differentiation of high schools from the city 
school of the grades is contained in the remark of Supt. Netherton in 
1893-91. In his report for that year he says : 

There is always a lack of interest in high-school work in newly settled coun- 
tries. Not only is there a lack of interest manifested, but strong opposition fre- 
quently arises to any effort to provide liberally for the maintenance of high 
schools. A great many do not seem to appreciate the fact that the high school 
is one of the rounds of the educational ladder that can not be dispensed with 
without serious danger to our educational interests. * * * 

While I believe that the advantages of a high school are worth more to every 
citizen than he contributes to its support, owing to the physical character of 
Arizona there are many isolated and thinly populated sections where it would 
be impossible to establish high schools, and there is an appearance of injustice 
in taxing them to support institutions at so great a distance from them that they 
could not reap any direct advantage therefrom. A system of high schools can be 
provided for, however, against which these objections will not lie. Pass a law 
allowing any number of common-school districts to consolidate for the purpose 
of maintaining a high school, with the consent of a majority of the taxpayers 
of the districts proposing to unite. Then an annual levy can be made on the 
property in the high-school district for its maintenance. The school should be 
free for all residents of the high-school district, and a reasonable tuition fee 
should be charged for nonresidents. This is a plan that has been successfully 
tried in California and some of the Eastern States and is as efficient as it is 
fair. Students can live at home and reap all the advantages of a first-class 
education, thus saving to the people the expense of transportation to and living 
expenses at outside institutions. 

The legislature responded to this suggestion, and the law relating 
to high schools, passed in 1895,^ provided that any school district of 
2,000 or more inhabitants, or any two or more adjoining districts 
with the necessary population, might unite and form a union high- 
school district for the purpose of maintaining a high school. They 
were to elect a board of education of five, who were to have all neces- 
sary powers, prescribe the course of study and admit applicants, but 
there was no provision for special funds other than those to be raised 
by an annual tax, the amount of which was to be estimated for by the 
county superintendent, and it was made the duty of the proper au- 
thorities to levy the tax asked on the single or union high-school dis- 

1 Arizona Teacher, February, 1917, pp. 15-17. 

2 Session Acts, 1895, ch. 32. Certain irregularities in the organization of these high- 
school districts and uuiou high-school districts were cured by ch. 40, second special 
session, 1913. 



104 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN AEIZONA. 

trict. It was thus entirely voluntary, and the whole support was to 
come out of local taxes. This was doubtless the greatest mistake. 
In the stage of development in which the Arizona schools then were, 
it is not reasonable to suppose that they would take kindly to district 
taxation without Territorial support. In fact, this had been their 
very first experience. The acts of 1867 and 1868 which had placed 
school support on the local district entirely were a flat failure — no 
schools were organized. 

Of this high-school law and its accomplishments Supt. Shewman 
said in 1899 : 

We have had cause to regret the lack of interest in, and, we miglit say, the 
opposition to, the establishment of high schools in the Territory. Our law at 
present is liberal in its encouragement of the organization of high schools, and 
there are many localities where one would prove of inestimable value to the 
cause of education. * * * No school system is perfect without the high 
school. There is a missing link which no other school can supply, unless, in- 
deed, our normal and university must supply the stepping stone by being bur- 
dened with a grammar department to supply the course furnished by the high 
school. There are now in this Territory some high schools existing under the 
old law and keeping up the course as prescribed under the old law, but there 
is but one that is recognized as having legal existence under the latest act of 
the legislative assembly, that at Phoenix. This school is in a most prosperous 
condition. 

The first school organized under the law of 1895 was the Union 
High School at Phoenix, which had been in course of evolution since 
1880. It had even graduated a few pupils and it now entered upon 
a real course of development. The next high school organized was 
that of Mesa, Maricopa County, which began work with the ses- 
sion of 1901-2, There were 164 " advanced-grade " pupils reported 
for 1901 and 151 the next year. In 1904 a third high school was or- 
ganized at Prescott, in Yavapai County. There were reported in 
that year 278 pupils in the three high schools, with an average at- 
tendance of 218, and with 1,000 volumes in the libraries at Union 
and Mesa. The three had a total income of $14,188.44, with a total 
expenditure of $13,443.54, of which $7,182.07 went for the payment 
of salaries. The statistics to date available are neither continuous, 
complete, nor uniform; nor are the statistics given by High School 
Inspector Dr. Neil for 1915-16 as complete as they should be. In 
the absence of more complete reports the figures are given as they 
appear in the Territorial and State reports. 



THE FIRST STATE ADMINISTEATION OF SCHOOLS. 105 

High-school statistics, 1895-1916. 



Years. 


High 
schools. 


Coun- 
ties 
with 
high 
schools. 


Total 
enroll- 
ment. 


Aver- 
age 
daily 
attend- 
ance. 


Length 

of term 

in 

months. 


Teach- 
ers em- 
ployed. 


Books 

in 
libraxy. 


Valua- 
tion of 
school 
prop- 
erty. 


Total 
receipts, 
including 
balances. 


Total 
expendi- 
tures. 


1895-96 


18 

1 
1 
1 

1 




















1896-97 


1 
1 

1 
1 


















1897 98 



































1899-1900 






1 











1900-1901 


2 164 

2 151 

2 200 
278 
332 
342 
398 
709 














1901-2 
















1902 3 


2 
3 

5 
5 
5 
8 


1 
2 
3 
3 

5 


















218 
259 
261 
312 
543 


9.0 
8.1 
8.8 
8.5 
9.0 


11 
15 
17 
20 
32 


1,000 
1,570 
1,640 
1,690 
2,750 


$76' 701 ■ 
71,436 
82,275 

111,975 


$14,188.44 

2l!75L60 
24,971.82 
46,587.43 


$13,443.54 
21,755.44 


1904r-5 


1905-6 


21 480.14 


1906-7 


23, 897. 71 




39, 233. 22 


1908-9 . . . 




1909-10 
























13 

16 
17 
18 


........ 


1,343 

1,528 
1,824 
2,267 


1,087 
1,201 
1,543 
1,773 




























1912-13 








1 . ...i 


1913 14 








1 ' . ... 












1915-16 .... 


26 


12 


2,881 






242 


20,572 














1 This evidently refers to the high-school»departments of existing city high schools. 

* Number in "advanced grade," probably includes more than the schools organized under the law of 1895. 

Brief surveys of the work of some individual liigli schools may be 
of interest and service in the absence of any complete general sum- 
mary covering the whole field. All of them furnish many items of 
interest to an educator, and some are not without elements of romance. 

The Florence High School is adopting some new styles in matters 
of school architecture. Instead of the conventional front, it has 
erected a structure in a radial design of the old Spanish mission type. 
Around a central building used for an assembly hall and school li- 
brary four wings radiate northwest, northeast, southwest, southeast, 
with imposing colonnades to east and west. The ventilation and light 
are excellent, and the classrooms are removed from all the unpleasant 
but necessary noises of other departments. Three lines of work are 
offered, college preparatory, scientific, and commercial. A lyceum 
course is given under the auspices of the two school boards, and in the 
high school is supplied what the community may lack in the way of 
civic necessities.^ 

The Clarksdale High School, in the Verde- Jerome district in Yava- 
pai County, is a new school, recently organized, with a new building 
presented by Senator Clark. " The whole work of the school has been 
planned to meet the direct needs of the smelter town," says one of 
the teachers, and this purpose has been so liberally interpreted as to 
make the school and the schoolhouse a very real and very active center 
of the social activity of the community.^ 

There is sometimes even something of romance in the history of 



Ariaona Teacher, January, 1917, p. 9 ; and February, 1911 
Arizona Teacher, February, 1917, p. 29. 



p. 20. 



106 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

these high schools which brings out in clear relief the devotion of 
these people to an educational ideal which they have made their own. 
This is brilliantly illustrated in the history of the high school of 
Yuma. The Territorial penitentiary was located at Yuma for some 
years before its removal to larger and more spacious quarters at Flor- 
ence, leaving its old buildings at Yuma unoccupied. At about the 
time of this transfer the Yuma High School was being organized, but 
was without a local habitation (1909). Under the stress of circum- 
stances the high school was conducted in the buildings within the 
high walls of the old penitentiary. Says the principal : 

The class of 1914 is probably the only class in the United States who spent 
four years in a penitentiary and graduated at the same, receiving their diplomas. 
From this it seems that Yuma has carried prison reform even beyond tlie fond- 
est hopes of his excellency, Gov. Hunt. 

And one of the local poets has sung: 

Queer use to make of this old " pen," 

Old dungeoned haunt of hate and fear; 
But when all like this can be used like this, 

The millenium will then be here. 

The school moved into its new building, costing $75,000, in 1914. 
It employs seven teachers and offers courses in Latin, Spanish, French, 
English, and the sciences, including agriculture and dairy farming, 
domestic science and domestic art, commercial subjects, history, music, 
art, and physical culture. 

In 1910 the Territorial board of education adopted the following 
uniform courses of study for the high schools: English, 4 units; 
mathematics — algebra, 1| units; geometry, 1 unit; history, 2 units; 
ancient and modern languages, 2 units; science, 2 units; electives, 3^ 
units. 

A unit was defined as consisting of five periods of 45 minutes each 
per week for 36 weeks. This course was to become effective Septem- 
ber, 1910.^ In that year commercial courses were reported in Phoe- 
nix, Prescott, Jerome, Yuma, Tucson, Tombstone, Globe, and Tempe, 
The schools of Bisbee and Mesa also had some courses in commercial 
subjects. 

The last report on high schools as a whole is that by Dr. Neil, high- 
school inspector, for the j^ear 1915-16. It covers 26 schools located 
in 13 of the 14 counties of the State, Apache County alone being un- 
represented. This report includes both classes of high schools, known 
in other States as city and country high schools. That these classes 
are less clearly differentiated in Arizona than in the other States is 
due to the character of the settlements. As water is the chief desid- 
eratum in Arizona, settlements must of necessity be within the bounds 
or reach of running- water, hence the tendency to settlement in vil- 

1 Arizona Journal of Education, April, 1910, pp. 22, 38. 



THE FIEST STATE ADMINISTEATlOlSr OF SCHOOLS. 107 

lage communities is inevitable. Of the Arizona high schools, three 
are in villages with about 1,000 inhabitants, 12 are in communities 
with 2,500 inhabitants or less (counted as rural communities in the 
census), and 14 are in towns of over 2,500. 

Of the list of buildings reported there yet remains one of wood — 
that at Tombstone erected in 1885. The next oldest is the one at 
Morenci, built in 1905. The cost has varied from $260,000 for the 
house at Phoenix, built in 1911, down to $8,000 for that at Willcox, 
built the same year. The total cost of 22 buildings is given as 
$1,350,000, or an average of about $60,000 each. In a majority of 
cases the houses seem well supplied with rooms, some of them having 
24, 25, 30, and that at Phoenix 48 rooms. The heating is in most 
cases modern — either steam or hot air. Most schools are supplied 
with some laboratory facilities. Fifteen report such facilities in 
biology, valued at $5,570; 24 report laboratories for physics, valued 
at $22,650; 22 in chemistry, worth $13,150; 7 in agriculture, worth 
$1,800 ; 22 report manual training equipment, worth $47,900 ; 21 do- 
mestic science, worth $26,050 ; 23 commercial equipment, worth $19,- 
700. The term varied between 36 and 40 weeks, with an average of a 
fraction over 37. Of the 22 buildings reported, 1 was created in 
1908, 4 in 1909, 2 in 1911, 3 in 1912, 2 in 1913, 3 in 1914, 2 in 1915. 
and 3 in 1916, with two others under construction. These dates 
show clearly that the modern school idea has taken a firm hold on the 
Arizona mind ; and the material used — ^brick, brick and concrete, or 
stone in all structures except the oldest — shows that they are planned 
for a long future. About half of these schools were fortunately 
abundantly supplied with grounds and 13 had trees. 

A detailed study of the teaching force of the Arizona High Schools 
was undertaken in the spring of 1916 and revealed as it progressed 
some interesting facts. In this study the faculties of 24 high schools 
were considered. Of the 208 high-school teachers reported, 141 were 
holders of bachelors' degrees, including graduates of standard col- 
leges and universities, but excluding normal schools and commer- 
cial colleges. This number of college graduates gives a higher pro- 
portion than is found in some of the older States, notwithstanding 
the urgings in this direction of the North Central Association of Col- 
leges and Secondary Schools; 28 of these teachers held advanced 
. degrees, like A.M. and Ph.D. ; 56 had pursued postgraduate studies ; 
91 had been trained in or graduated from normal schools, 11 in busi- 
ness colleges, and one in a technical school. Nearly half of these 
teachers were then following courses at summer schools and 84 per 
cent came into Arizona from without the State, mainly from Illinois 
and Kansas. The cosmopolitan character of their education is shown 
by the 153 educational institutions which they represent; about 85 
per cent of these teachers got their preliminary experience in other 



108 



PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 



States which seems to indicate that school officials in Arizona are un- 
willing to assist in " breaking in " young teachers, and as a conse- 
quence young people who are trained for teaching are driven out of it 
for the beginnings of their actual teaching experience.^ 

According to the report of Dr. Neil for 1915-16, there were then 
242 high-school teachers at work in the State, of whom 140 were col- 
lege graduates and 46 normal graduates ; 23 libraries contained 20,572 
volumes. There were 1,170 first-year pupils; 542, second-year; 786 
third-year; 383 fourth-year, of whom 356 graduated. Of these, 111 
entered college and 70 entered a normal school. The salaries of 
teachers varied from $55 per month, the smallest at Yuma, to $225 
the largest at Phoenix, The cost per capita per pupil varied be- 
tween $42.35 at Winslow and $200 at Douglas. The average cost for 
22 schools was $123.65 per pupil. 

The following table, made up from reports furnished to this office 
shows tlie condition of the high schools along certain lines not given 
in detail in Dr. Neil's report. 



t^tatistics of Arizona high sclwols, 1915-16. 



Schools. 


Years 
in 

course. 


Days 

in 
session. 


Teach- 
ers. 


PupDs. 


Vol- 
umes 

in 
library. 


Value 

of 
library. 


Total 
value, 
school 
prop- 
erty. 


Total 

in- 
come. 


Ex- 
pended 

for 
sites, 
build- 
ings, 
etc. 


Courses 
given 
other 
than 
aca- 
demic. 




\ 


170 
180 
200 
168 
169 
170 
172 
173 
180 
180 
169 
175 
162 
172 
165 
184 
172 
170 
170 
165 
171 
ISO 


6 

14 
3 
8 

14 
4 
8 
5 

12 
2 

13 
3 
2 
4 

37 
8 
6 
8 

12 
5 
12 


55 
231 
= 23 
70 
238 
36 
56 
107 
108 
27 
203 
52 
20 
51 
3 910 
2 146 
46 
93 
26 
283 

112 


300 

1,700 

2,000 

880 

900 

50 

600 

600 

550 

150 

1,067 

500 

600 

625 

900 

1,090 

471 

1,200 

150 

900 

220 

2,762 


■?2i66o' 

3,000 
750 

1,200 
75 
800 
350 
800 
275 
600 
600 

1,000 
800 

1,000 

1,368 
500 

1,200 
200 

1,200 
250 

3,000 


.$55,000 

100,000 
21,000 
40, 000 
61,000 
50, 800 

110,000 
52, 000 

100, 000 

300 

53, 000 








Bishee 








Clarkdale 




















Duncan ' 
















Glrndale 








Globei 




4,738 








Mesa Union 


20,000 






Morcnci 


2,000 
80, 500 
265,000 
123,702 
.55,000 
50, 000 
6,500 
145,000 
11,900 
51,000 








Nogales 


■76,'449' 
"6," 850' 


51,4.56 

■ 26' 745' 
55,000 




Phoenix Union 








Tempe Union 

Tombstone 




2,500 
18,040 

7,500 
13,390 


■■i,'6o6" 

1,750 




WUlcox. ... 




Winslow 









1 statistics for 1916-17; 



2 Includes 1 colored pupil. 



■ Includes 8 colored pupils. 



VI. THE NORMAL SCHOOLS. 



Normal-school training in Arizona dates from 1885. An act 
passed on March 12, 1885, appropriated $5,000 for the erection of 
suitable buildings and $3,500 for support of the school for the two 
years 1885 and 1886. The Territory furnished for a site 20 acres 



1 Arizona Teacher, November, 1916, pp. 16-18. 



THE FIRST STATE ADMINISTEATION OF SCHOOLS. 109 

of land, with water privileges, within half a mile of Tempe, Mari- 
copa County, and 9 miles from Phoenix. Contracts were let for 
the building at $6,497 to the lowest responsible bidder, and the 
completed building was delivered January 11, 1886. Then the 
trouble began. The governor refused to countersign anj^ warrant 
for more than $5,000; a test case was made and argued before the 
chief justice, but no decision was made at the time; the matter 
seems to have been dropped, and the balance due was presumably 
paid later out of the regular income of the institution from the 
tax of 2| cents on the hundred given by the same assembly for 
the erection of buildings and the support of the institution.^ 

The first building was 60 by TO feet, and was entirely surrounded 
by verandas 10 feet wide; four rooms 30 feet square were then pro- 
vided. The school was opened February 8, 1886, and placed under 
the administration of Prof. PI. Bradford Farmer. In that year a 
four months' term was provided, and there were 33 pupils in attend- 
ance. Tuition was free to those who intended to teach and to those 
nominated by a member of the legislature; other persons were 
charged $4 per month. The course of study began with elementary 
work, including reading, writing, geography, and arithmetic, history 
of United States, and grammar for the first year, and for the second, 
algebra, natural philosophy, physiology, method, essays, select read- 
ings, and declamations. There was an advanced course of three 
years which covered these subjects and also Latin, analysis, Consti- 
tution of the United States, Ceesar, physiology, methods, Cicero, gen- 
eral history, geometry, rhetoric, Virgil, English literature, political 
economy, history and philosophy of education, essays, etc. On the 
completion of either of these courses a corresponding diploma was 
given, entitling the holder to teach in the public schools of the Ter- 
ritory. 

It will be noticed that there was little in either of these courses 
which was professional in character; that the courses differed but 
little from regular high-school courses; that the first service of this 
school was evidently to furnish high-school work to such as were 
advanced enough and financially able to take it, in this way supply- 
ing in part the almost total lack of secondary work then in the Terj 
ritory, for at that date the development of the city high schools had 
just begun and that of the union high schools was still a long 
way off.^ 

For the next 15 years the Tempe Normal School had a somewhat 
tempestuous career. Always well supported by the Territory in mat- 
ters financial, it was nevertheless the football of politics and its use- 
fulness was for this reason diminished. Notwithstanding these more 

1 This provision was carried over into the code of 1887. 
* See superintendent's report for 1885-86. 



110 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

or less recurring troubles, the school has constantly grown, has 
widened and extended its courses, and has now developed into an 
institution of great merit. This growth is shown by the story of de- 
velopment as told from year to year in the reports of the superin- 
tendent and in other sources. The principals during the first 15 
years were H. B. Farmer, 1885-1888; Robert L. Long, ex-superin- 
tendent of public instruction, 1888-1890; D. A. Reed, 1890, and 
Edgar L. Storment to 1895; Dr. James McNaughton, 1895-1900; 
Joseph Warren Smith, 1900-1, when the present principal, Dr. A. 
J. Matthews, came into office. The first years were marked as a 
period of slow, steady growth, during which the institution gained 
definite recognition as a factor in the development of Arizona.^ 

In 1889-90 when the school was just fairly getting on its feet its 
object was declared to be — 

that the school shall furnish an opportunity for an education at home beyond 
that possible in the grammar school, and the course of study has been so ar- 
ranged that the pupil upon completing the grammar-school course shall be 
fitted for entrance * * *. The past year has marked a great increase in the 
efficiency and popularity of the school, there being now in attendance 40 
scholars, most of whom are fitting themselves for the vocation of teacher. The 
greatest need under which the school now labors is some provision for 
dormitories. 

It was also pointed out at this time, 1889-90, that the 2^ cents 
annual levy given to the normal school was not needed, since more 
than enough money for its support was reapportioned yearly to the 
counties out of the school fund. 

In 1893, at the end of eight years, it was reported that 295 students 
had been matriculated and 35 graduated, 15 of whom had become 
teachers in the Territory. In 1895, or 10 years after organization, 
the annual matriculation had reached nearly 100, the graduating 
class numbered 12, and the faculty had increased to 5. The record 
of matriculation for the preceding five years, including both males 
and females, was as follows: 1890-91, 54; 1891-92, 76; 1892-93, 87; 
1893-94, 91 ; 1894-95, 94. 

The seventeenth assembly (that for 1895) levied a tax of two- 
fifths of a mill on each dollar of assessed valuation (4 cents on the 
hundred) to be used in the erection and better maintenance of a 
normal-school building, which was finished in 1897 at a cost when 
completed of about $75,000. In purpose the institution sought to 
keep up with the development of the Territory and meet the needs of 
students, and while progress was being made on these lines it was 
said in 1895-96 that the public schools were as yet in such a con- 
dition that both the normal school and the university were still com- 
pelled to do grammar grade work.^ 

1 See Supt. Long's report for 1906-1908, p. 69. 

2 Superintendent's report, 1895-96, p. 21. 



THE FIRST STATE ADMINISTRATION OP SCHOOLS. Ill 

For the year 1898-99 it was reported that 90 normal graduates 
were employed in the public schools, and in 1899-1900 the number 
was 85. 

The legislature of 1899 granted an annual tax of 1^ cents on the 
hundred for the normal-school fund and appropriated $3,500 to pay 
the accumulated indebtedness. In its report on the workings of the 
institution^ the visiting committee of the trustees for that year 
considered the development of the school as " worthy of commenda- 
tion " and then fell into a discvussion of the whole subject, which 
showed the trend of the school itself and of the times : 

We desire to call particular attention to the course of study and to most 
strongly commend the efforts of the trustees in giving a thorough English 
course. Too many of the young people of America graduate from high schools 
and colleges with a mere smattering of a practical education. There is an 
intense desire on the part of such institutions to rush students into Latin, 
Greek, French, German, higher mathematics, mental and moral science, etc., 
before they have acquired proficiency in spelling, grammar, rhetoric, geography, 
the history of our country and our flag, physiology, and those other branches 
which are usually »called " common." It is evident to those who are victims 
of such mistakes that the normal school at Tempe insists upon a thorough 
English education before anything else is considered. If in time it is demon- 
strated that our young men and women come from the public schools very 
proficient in the common branches, then will be ample time to extend the 
course to meet their needs. At present the course as outlined is, in our 
opinion, that which our students need to fit them as teachers, as well as to 
make them most useful as men and women in any walk in life. We believe 
that the board has acted wisely in adopting the plan of giving three years to 
academic work and one year to those branches which belong purely to the pro- 
fessional teacher. The students who find that they are not fitted for teach- 
ing, or who desire to adopt some other life course, will have lost no time 
in the study of methods of teaching, etc. On the other hand, the student who 
desires to teach is thereby better equipped for the study of purely professional 
branches in his final year. 

By this arrangement the Territory succeeded to an extent in sup- 
plying the need of high schools. Those who could afford and had 
the disposition went to the normal school at Tempe or to the uni- 
versity at Tucson for their academic and high-school courses. In 
this way the high-school facilities of the Territory were greatly 
enlarged. 

In 1899 a second normal school, located at Flagstaff on the Santa 
Fe Pacific Eailroad and known as the Northern Normal School of 
Arizona, was organized. The genesis of this institution is interesting. 
Its beginnings go back to an act passed in 1893 looking to the crea- 
tion of a school for delinquent boys. 

In that year such a school was actually provided by law ^ and was 
to be formally known as the Reform School for juvenile offenders. 
A building for this purpose located at Flagstaff was commenced and 

1 In superintendent's report, 1899-1900, pp. 59-61. 

2 Laws of Arizona, 1893, ch. 81. 



112 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

at least $33,265 spent on the same. It was still unfinished in 1897, 
when it was given a special tax of 3 cents on the hundred for a build- 
ing fund. But by this time the people of Flagstaff had come to the 
conclusion that a reform institution in their midst would be a draw- 
back to their community; so with this idea in mind they set out to 
persuade the Territorial authorities that it would be cheaper to keep 
such incorrigible bodys in the proper institutions in California rather 
than at home. They won their point. Then it became necessary to 
find use for the unfinished building, and it was determined to make 
it a branch insane asylum. This was done by chapter 25, acts of 1897, 
but the people of Flagstaff disliked this plan also, and its use was 
again changed. 

Finally, it was suggested that the building would serve a good 
purpose as a normal school for the northern half of the Territory, 
which was at a distance from and inconvenient to the normal school 
at Tempe. This suggestion was accepted; the act for the asylum 
passed in 1897 was repealed, and the effort was now begun to de- 
velop this new school into an institution of the same grade in all 
respects as the older one at Tempe, with its diplomas of the same 
force and effect. Teaching began in 1899, and the committee which 
visited the school in June, 1900, reported it as in " most excellent 
condition " and recommended that since there were no high schools 
in northern Arizona an " academic course " should be added to the 
more technical and professional work, for " this seems only justice 
to the boys and girls of northern Arizona." It was not considered 
wise, however, to introduce manual training into the schools and 
colleges of the Territory at that time. From the organization and 
formal opening of the Northern Arizona Normal School at Flag- 
staff in 1899, the history of the institution and of the Tempe Normal 
must be told in connection with each other. 

The report of the board of visitors on these schools for 1906 is 
highly satisfactory. The Tempe school was then 20 years of age; it 
had fortunately passed through most of the period of confusion and 
political upheaval. It had acquired in 1901 the principal whom it 
has ever since retained, and in 1906 had reached an enrollment of 243 
in the normal school and 177 in the training school, to which an eighth 
grade was then being added.^ The legislature of 1905 had given 
Tempe a 5^ cent building fund, producing $45,000, of which 
$44,274.01 was expended for permanent improvements during the 
year. The growth of the institution had been " rapid and constant," 
and while in former years there had been a shortage of books, the 
library was now said to occupy " a large part of the study room," 
and was reported to the United States Bureau of Education in 1909 

1 The training departments of the normal schools were made a part of the public 
school system by ch. 87, acts of 1009. 



THE FIEST STATE ADMINISTEATION OF SCHOOLS. 113 

as containing 5,000 volumes and 500 pamphlets. It was estimated 
that if the then rate of 9 cents on the hundred for maintenance was 
continued it would be sufficient for maintenance without special 
assessments for improvements. 

In 1907-8 the registration had reached a total of 272 in the normal 
school and 191 in the training school. There were then 19 in the fac- 
ulty and the class of 1909 was expected to number 50 or over. Two 
general courses leading to graduation were maintained — a five-year 
course for graduates of the grammar schools and a two-year course 
for graduates of a four-year high-school course. The former course 
included both academic and professional work, the latter in the main 
professional work only. It was evident that the normal schools were 
still needed to supply the lack of high schools. This is seen clearly in 
the course offered : English, mathematics, science, history and sciences, 
Latin, Spanish, professional instruction and practice teaching, com- 
mercial, drawing, vocal music, manual training, military drill, and 
physical culture. Students might use this work as a basis of admis- 
sion to college on the same terms as high-school graduates. The 
normal-school diploma granted at completion of the course was 
equivalent to a life diploma in Arizona and was accredited in Califor- 
nia and some other States as equivalent to a diploma from their own 
State normal schools. 

Up to the time of this report more than $300,000 had been invested 
in this institution. 

Since 1908 the school has continued its progressive development. 
In 1914^15 besides the two courses already mentioned — the two- 
year professional course for graduates of high schools and the five- 
year general and professional course for graduates of the grammar 
schools — there had been added two others — a four years' academic 
course for graduates of the four-year high-school course who do 
not expect to teach, and a training school course which embraces 
all grades of common-school work, from the kindergarten to the 
eighth grade, inclusive. Special courses to prepare teachers to meet 
the requirements in particular lines are also given, and since the 
completion of a $90,000 building erected for that purpose special 
attention is given to vocational training.^ The faculty then num- 
bered 23, but it was pointed out that an increase was necessary if the 
school was to meet the need of the growing State. The matriculation 
for 1916-17 was 434 in the normal school and 272 in the training 
school; the faculty had increased to 32 members; its income was 
about $95,000, making the average cost per pupil in the normal 

1 Made possible vinder ch. 80, second special session, laws of 1913. See also code o( 
1913, sec. 2797. 

61563°— 18 8 



114 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN AEIZONA. 

classes $177.42. The total property valuation of the plant was then 
$567,000, and it was determined to ask the next legislature for 
$.110,000 per year. 

From Flagstaff it was reported in 1905-6 that that school was 
still in need of an academic department, " so that such students as 
desire may be fitted for our Territorial university instead of hav- 
ing to go out of the Territory to secure the necessary instruction." 
The enrollment during these years had remained low: 33 in 1899- 
1900; 40 in 1900-1901; 45 in 1902-3 and 1903^; 59 in 1904-5; and 
60 in 1905-6. The cost the first year (1899-1900) was $5,825.57; in 
1905-6, $13,978.64. The total cost for the seven years of the school 
is given as $71,152.05; the number of teachers was at first 2; it 
rose the second year to 4, and the fifth year to 6, where it re- 
mained. There had been in all 42 graduates, or an average of 7 for 
the six graduating years. It was reported in 1907-8 that that year 
had been the " most prosperous " of its existence. Its enrollment 
reached 94, with 64 in the training school, which offered 7 grades 
of work. There Avere 12 graduates in 1908, and it had up to that 
time 49 graduates, of whom 43 had taught in the Territory. Two 
dormitories had been recently built at a cost of $50,000, but there 
was still crying need for liberal appropriations in the near future. 
A summer term was first offered in 1907. It has since become a 
permanent part of the school, having 225 pupils in 1916. The 
regular matriculation began to gain in 1911-12 when it passed the 
hundred mark and reached 137; in 1916-17 there were 334, and the 
faculty then numbered 21, but it was reported that the school was 
still cramped for room in which to work. 

The general administration of these schools is under the direction 
of two distinct but similar boards of three members each ; the super- 
intendent of public instruction is a member of each board. The other 
members of the Tempe Board are two citizens selected from that sec- 
tion by the governor, while those controlling the Flagstaff School 
come in the same way from that section. 

In general the effort was at first made to support the institutions by 
special taxes laid for their particular benefit, and there has been a ten- 
dency toward standardizing the appropriations. The Tempe School 
was granted in 1885 a tax of 2-| cents on the hundred ; this was ap- 
parently unchanged until 1893-94, when it was given two-fifths of 
1 mill on the dollar, or 4 cents on the hundred of assessed valuation 
apparently in place of the earlier grant. This was continued in 1895 
and 1896; in 1897 and 1898 it was 3 cents; in 1899 and 1900, 1| cents; 
in 1903 and 1904, 2^ cents, with a second tax of 4 cents to serve as a 
basis for a building fund; in 1905 and 1906 it received in all 5^ cents. 
In each case the auditor was instructed to anticipate the incoming 



THE FIRST STATE ADMHsTISTEATTON OF SCHOOLS. 



115 



The Flagstaff normal school was treated in the same general way, 
being given, in 1903 and 1904, 3 cents on the hundred for support and 
1 cent for building; while in 1905 and 1906 it was given IJ cents 
for building. The method of apportioning funds appears to have 
been changed about 1909, for in that year the Tempe school was given 
$80,000 for support for two years without any indication of the rate 
and the Flagstaff School $35,000. 

In 1909 it was provided by law ^ that the course of study leading to 
graduation from the two schools should be prescribed by the terri- 
torial board of education and after June 30, 1909, be uniform. The 
two institutions were then neither equal in strength nor in resources, 
but while the younger school is approximating such a position and 
while the faculties of the two are not so far apart in numbers, the 
Tempe School will still be able to offer superior advantages as long 
as its resources are substantially twice as great. This difference seems 
not to have been fully realized as yet by the legislative body ; for the 
funds granted the two for the two-year period ending June 30, 1917, 
were, for Tempe, $180,000 for support and $29,000 for buildings and 
repairs; to Flagstaff, $80,000 for support and $97,043 for buildings. 
Only an equality of resources and equipment can make possible an 
equality in the results attained. 

The annual expenditures of the two schools for maintenance and 
equipment is, according to the reports of the State auditor as follows : 



Sess. Laws of Arizona, 



ch. 58. 



Expenses of normal schools, 1885-1917. 



Year ending June 30. 


Normal 
school at 
Tempe, 
mainte- 
nance. 


Normal 
school at 
Flagstaff, 
mainte- 
nance. 


Tempe 
improve- 
ments, 
buildings, 
etc. 


Flagstaff 
improve- 
ments, 
buildings, 
etc. 




$5, 640. 10 
2 939.69 
3,116.65 
















1892 


















17,324.72 








1895 








1896 












34, 659. 33 
10,066.25 
10,822.51 
10,202.39 
15,275.60 
16,675.32 
22,263.10 
29,373.51 














1899 . . 


$993^ 23 
14,844.34 
7,405.54 
8, 527. 04 
9, 942. 69 
18,942.15 


1 


1900 


















1903 


$7,287.40 
20,687.01 


$13 191 22 












37, 389. 29 
35,039.66 
53,912.22 


13,978.64 
11,748.35 
17,314.72 


44,274.01 
2,844.20 
27,705.97 


9,087.31 
4, 590. 62 
15,686.60 


1907 


1908 




1910 . . 










1911 .. ... 


39, 160. 61 
49,950.15 
46, 809. 74 
78, 970. 04 
76, 605. 88 
95, 386. 05 


20,022.84 
22,086.33 
31, 283. 05 
44, 116. 69 
51,702.23 
53,721.37 
1 40, 000. 00 


9,009.32 
7, 299. 61 
19, 595. 52 
24,053.76 
105, 358. 81 
15,234.85 
1 14, 500. 00 


7, 367. 06 
6, 097. 62 


1912 








1915 


49, 445. 73 

73,658.25 

148,521.50 


1916 


1917 


1 90, 000. 00 





1 Represents one-half the legislative appropriations for the two years 1916 and 1917. 



Chapter IX. 
THE SCHOOL LANDS. 



The Arizona State land commission, created by an act of the legis- 
lature approved May 20, 1912,^ had its duties outlined by the act as 
follows : 

To ascertain the character and value of the various bodies of land 
constituting the public land within the State and to recommend to the 
governor such as might be desirable for selection in satisfaction of 
the Federal grants to the State. 

To personally examine and classify the school and other lands of 
the State with a view to aiding the legislature in the determination 
of a State land policy. 

To determine the character and value of improvements on school 
and university lands held under lease prior to the admission of the 
State. 

To grant permits for the continued occupancy of school and uni- 
versity lands held under lease before statehood. 

The amendments to this law, passed April 11 and May 16 and 17, 
1913,- authorized the commission to care for, sell, or otherwise ad- 
minister the timber and timber products upon the public lands of the 
State; to lease any lands not already leased; to take charge of all 
lands owned by the State except such as are under the specific use 
and control of State institutions; to prosecute and defend actions, 
prevent trespass, grant rights of way, and relinquish school lands 
within national forests settled upon prior to statehood; and to ad- 
just the rights of lessees owning improvements on school or university 
lands and sell or lease the lands secured under the million-acre grant 
for the payment of certain county bonds and to select, manage, and 
dispose of desert lands to be reclaimed under the act of Congress of 
August 18, 1894, and the acts supplementary thereto known as the 
Carey land acts. 

It follows, therefore, that the administration of the public lands 
intended for educational purposes was a part of but by no means all 
of the duties devolving on the commission. This study deals only 
with the lands devoted to education. 

1 Revised Statutes, 1913, ch. 1, title 43. 

2 Ibid., ch. 3, title 43 ; ch. 4, title 43 ; chs. 1 and 2, title 43. 

116 



THE SCHOOL LANDS. 117 

These lands may be divided into two clearly defined groups: 

I. The public-school lands of which sections 16 and 36 were reserved 
for the use of schools when the Territory was organized (Feb. 21, 
1863) and to which sections 2 and 32 were added at the admission of 
the Territory as a State, The total area of the four sections in each 
township thus granted for the use of schools is 8,103,680 acres, of 
which 3,134,555.20 acres were still unsurveyed December 1, 1914, and 
1,397,357.59 acres were included in the national forests. 

II. The institutional lands granted by Congress at the admission 
of the State into the Union, amounting to 2,350,000 acres. 

I, THE PUBLIC-SCHOOL LANDS. 

While sections 16 and 36 were reserved in the act of February 24, 
1863, for the use of the public schools, no authority to lease, sell, or 
administer these lands was given the Territorial authorities until the 
act of April 7, 1896. The correspondence of the governors with the 
Secretary of the Interior is full of arguments showing the importance 
and the necessity of granting such authority. Gov. Safford pointed 
out that squatters were trespassing on and taking up school lands and 
asked authority to sell or at any rate to lease. His example and re- 
quests were followed in turn by practically every succeeding governor 
with substantially the same reasons, and all were backed up from 
time to time by the legislature in passing memorials which showed 
the utmost anxiety to get their hands on this endowment provided 
for the coming children of the State. In 1883 and 1884, Gov. Tritle 
urged that the rights of control conceded to the States might well 
be granted to the Territories and argued truthfully that being de- 
prived of this source of income meant that the citizens must support 
their schools by direct taxation, and that this was burdensome. He 
also urged that provision should be made for the selection of other 
lands to take the place of the worthless desert that covered many 
parts of the Territory. He renewed these recommendations in 1884 
and 1885.^ Under the administration of Gov. Zulick permission to 
sell the school lands was again asked.^ Gov. Wolfley urged that set- 
tlers were then farming the school lands and paying no revenue and 
that the needs of the Territory would never be greater. Gov. Hughes 
estimated in 1895 that the funds from the school lands, if leased, 
would be from $75,000 to $100,000 annually, and so the story goes on 
to the end of the chapter. The Territory very much wished to get 
control of its school lands, but in this matter the Congress was fortu- 
nately adamant. A deaf ear was turned to all their proposals, and 

1 Report of Governor of Arizona to the Secretary of the Interior for 1883, p. 13 ; 
1884, p. 11 ; and 1885, p. 17. 

2 See Report of Governor of Arizona to Secretary of the Interior for 1887, p. 8. 



118 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

not until the act of April T, 1896, was the authority given the Terri- 
tory to even lease the lands. 

(a) THE SALT RIVEB SCHOOL LANDS. 

These lands demand particular consideration because they are the 
oldest and best known of the school lands and because since the 
building of the Roosevelt dam — 

it is evident that tlie inclusion of tliese lands in the Salt River "Valley project, 
their admission to contractual rights in the stored waters of the Roosevelt 
Dam, while they remain in State ownership, is viewed with disfavor by the 
United States Government. 

In the Salt River Valley reclamation project there are 13,003.59 
acres of school land which at the date of statehood were held under 
lease by 202 lessees. This is the most valuable body of land, of 
similar area, in the State, and its careful and businesslike adminis- 
tration is of immense importance to the common-school fund. Its 
appraised value was $1,257,426.70, with appraised improvements 
amounting to $379,343.23. To these figures must be added a body 
of 1,496 acres of school lands under the Tempe Canal and independ- 
ent of the Salt River project. This land is worth $146,975 and the 
improvements $42,363.65, making for the two tracts, together with 
the improvements, a total of $1,826,108.58, without considering water 
appropriations and privileges appurtenant to the land. 

The occupation of this land by squatters and others dates back in 
some cases to 1870. As early as 1867 work was begun on some of 
the ditches, or canals, used in its irrigation. This work was con- 
tinued and finally came to embrace the Salt, Maricopa, Grand, and 
Arizona Canals on the north, and the Tempe, Mesa, Utah, High 
Land, and Consolidated Canals on the south of the river, all of which 
are now included in the Salt River Valley project. It is estimated 
that when Congress gave the power of leasing school lands to the 
Territory in 1896, not less than 4,440 acres on the north side of the 
Gila and 2,820 acres on the south side were "under cultivation by 
squatters, who for varying periods had occupied the lands without 
warrant whatsoever and had enjoyed the fruits thereof without the 
payment of either rental or taxes." 

It thus became necessary that the Territory pass some enactment 
by which the interests and rights of the schools and of the squatters 
might be preserved. 

The act of April 7, 1896,^ which finally gave the control of leases 
to the Territory, provided that the governor, the secretary of state, 
and the superintendent of public instruction, should, pending the 

1 See U. S. Stat. L., vol. 29, p. 90. 



THE SCHOOL LANDS. 119 

enactment of laws and regulations, act as a board to lease tlie lands 
under rules and regulations proposed by the Secretary of the Inte- 
rior, but there is no indication that they exercised their prerogative in 
this matter. The Territorial legislature, however, passed an act on 
March 18, 1897, which provided for the leasing of the school lands. 
The squatters who had previously occupied them were given a pre- 
ferred right. In case they failed or refused to lease, and others wished 
to do so, their improvements were to be appraised in a manner pro- 
vided by law and paid for by the new lessee. Improvements were de- 
scribed as being — 

anything permanent in character, the result of labor or capital expended on such 
land in its reclamation or development, and the appropriation of water thereon, 
which has enhanced the value of the same beyond what said land would be 
worth had it been permitted to remain in its original state. 

An addendum to this law enacted since provides that — 

anyone making permanent improvements after leasing shall be allowed com- 
pensation therefor at the expiration of their lease, or anyone having to sur- 
render their land before the expiration of their lease shall be entitled to all 
the benefits of this section.^ 

These statutes remained the law until statehood, when the first 
legislature, recognizing the necessity of an " equitable adjustment of 
the reciprocal rights of the lessee residing on any of said land, and 
of the State " authorized and directed the issuing of permits for the 
further occupancy of the school lands held under Territorial lease 
pending final adjustment. After objection and opposition on the 
part of some lessees, and up to December 1, 1914, the date of the first 
report of the State land commission, 133 lessees had complied with the 
law, while 75 had not. 

In the meantime the question of water rights had long since 
become an exceedingly important one. In early days water was 
largely a question of individual initiative. Then came the incorpo- 
ration of the Salt River Valley Canal Co., which took over individual 
rights and duties and administered matters pertaining to the water 
supply; in course of time more land was brought under cultivation 
while the amount of water remained stationary, arid as a result the 
shares of the company which had a par value of $500 attained a 
market price of $5,000 or $6,000 or even more. But this abnormal 
condition could not last ; dissensions multiplied ; suits " for the pur- 
pose of establishing the priority of right to the flow of the river, as 
appurtenant to the land upon which originally appropriated and 
untransferable," were instituted and culminated in 1910 in what is 
known as the " Kent decree." By this decree — 

^ The last section of this supplementary act was apparently never invoked. 



120 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN AEIZONA. 

the order of priority in which each tract of land in Salt River Valley that had 
been regularly cultivated down to 1905, or to within five years of that time, 
was entitled to receive the waters of the Salt River, was determined and 
established. 

This decree is of great significance, for it follows — 

that lands which could claim the beneficial use of water upon them at a date 
not later than 1880, and were and are entitled to their proportionate share of the 
normal flow of the river up to the amount deemed by the Kent decree to be 
necessary for their proper irrigation, may be considered as having valuable 
water rights — rights under which they are reasonably assured of ample water 
during the entire season for the growing of practically any crop. But the lands 
upon which the application of water appears to have been of a later date must 
be content with water at such times or during such periods only as the records 
show the river to have furnished more than was necessary for the user of prior 
appropriations. They can only hope to be cultivated intermittently, during the 
season of high normal flow, and their cultivation likely must be confined to crops 
requiring the least amount of water. Such a right, it is plain, is of compara- 
tively small value. 

In the meantime the effort to cultivate more land and the constant 
demand for the development of more water had brought the United 
States into the work of permanent reclamation ; for washouts came, 
droughts followed, fields Avent to waste, and highly improved farms 
reverted to their desert state until finally the United States Govern- 
ment was petitioned to intervene and save the valley through the 
national reclamation law enacted in 1903. The United States took 
over the larger part of the system of canals; old rights were then 
swept away or surrendered, and all that remained was the priority 
of right, later legally established by the " Kent decree," accruing and 
attaching to the land itself and not to any individual, either owner 
or lessee, to the normal flow of Salt Eiver. These rights, to the ex- 
tent only that they were dependent upon the river's normal flow, 
were and are recognized by the United States Reclamation Service, 
which controls not only the normal flow of the river, but the stored 
waters of the Roosevelt reservoir. Thus the old monetary values 
ceased to exist after the advent of the Reclamation Service. This 
service has indeed proposed that the school lands be denied the right 
to contract for the stored waters of the Roosevelt reservoir, while 
individuals have thought that the clause in the reclamation act which 
provides that " no right to the use of water for land in private own- 
ership shall be sold for a tract exceeding 160 acres to any one land- 
owner," would exclude the school lands altogether, but this view was 
rejected in the interpretation of the Secretary of the Interior, and 
the final recommendation in the matter, as reported in 1909 by the 
Reclamation Commission, was that school lands, both cultivated and 
uncultivated, were not then to be considered a part of the project at 
that time, but might be considered as a new unit dependent upon the 



THE SCHOOL LANDS. 121 

development of additional water supply for such lands. As the 
prospect was for an abundant supply of water from Roosevelt reser- 
voir, it was thought that there would be at least temporarily enough 
water, but if this was to be permanent it would depend on the devel- 
opment of an additional water supply. But this situation in no case 
aifected the rights which the lands might possess under the Kent 
decree. The opinion of the commission was that authority should be 
given for the sale of the lands and that the proceeds should be placed 
in an inviolable permanent fund, for in their present status the lands 
are being sadly neglected. 

(&) AMOTJNT AND DISTEIBTJTION OF SCHOOL LANDS. 

According to the first report of the Arizona land commission in 
1914, the 8.103,680 acres included in sections 2, 16, 32, and 36 which 
have been devoted to the public schools, are divided as follows : 

Acres. 

In national forests . 1, 397, 357. 59 

In Indian reservations 1, 746, 860. 01 

In other reservations 76. 164. 11 

Unsurveyed and unreserved 3, 134, 555. 20 

Appropriated by United States entry, subject to indem- 
nity 168, 707. 62 

In place, not leased 1, 184, 985. 52 

In place, under lease or permit 395, 049. 95 

Total 8, 103, 680. 00 

When the 1,580,035.46 acres in place and leased or not- leased are 
classified from the standpoint of agricultural, woodland, or grazing 
usefulness, it was found that there were 303,333.62 acres susceptible 
of some form of agricultural development; 143,189.48 acres had 
woodland value; and 1,549,980.02 acres had grazing value. It was 
estimated that these 1,580,035.46 acres were worth $6,266,505.79 and 
the improvements upon them (structures, windmills, tanks, ditches, 
and canals, clearing and leveling, fencing, perennial crops, and water 
rights) were worth an additional $848,976.47, making a total of 
$7,115,482.26. Prior to statehood there were 264,993.34 acres of 
school lands leased under 806 leases, and at the rates then charged 
these leases brought $16,397.39 per year. With statehood the rental 
values were revived and standardized at prices ranging from $20 
per section up for grazing lands. For the three years beginning 
March 16, 1912, and ending with March 15, 1915, the earnings were: 
1912-13, $22,465.36; 1913-14, $32,148.48; 1914-15, $31,792.66; 1915-16, 
$35,852.14; 1916 (Jan. 1-July 1), $40,349.12. For the whole period 
between February 14, 1912, and March 15, 1915, the total earnings 
were $88,367.17, of which there had been paid in $43,547.51, and 
there was then due $44,819.66. 



122 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

Receipts derived from the lease of school lands in earlier years 
were : 

1899 (6 months ending June 30) $897.73 

1899-1900 3, 936. 04 

1900-1901 4, 121. 71 

1901-2 3, 576. 66 

1902 (6 months, July to December) 1,726.27 

The land commission also gives the cash receipts and the earnings 
not received from the school lands under the Salt River project for 
the year ending March 15, 1915, as $13,241.10, of which $1,422.39 had 
been received and $11,818.71 had not. In the same way and for the 
same time the lands under the Tempe canal had earned $1,999.97, 
of which $594 had been received and $1,405.97 was still due. 

(C) NATION AI, FOEEST LANDS. 

As already pointed out, of the public school lands as much as 
1,397,357.59 acres lie within the boundaries of the national forests. 
Under the enabling act the title to these lands is not vested in the 
State, but they are administered as a part of the national forest to 
which they belong, and such part of the gross income of the forest is 
paid the State for the common-school fund as the school land included 
within the forest bears to the whole of the forest. It is estimated 
that the part of the national forests belonging to the State makes up 
about one-ninth of the whole national forest area in the State and 
that Federal administration is more successful than it could be in 
State hands. 

At the time of the admission of Arizona there were 1,126 leases of 
surveyed and unsurveyed State school lands in the national forests, 
covering 456,073.94 acres, at a rental of $20,048.74. Of these leases 
there were canceled 320, covering 191,080.60 acres, and leaving 806 
leases covering 264,993.34 acres. 

The leases have been paying in the last few years as follows (for 
schools only) :^ 

From June 20 to June 30, 1910 $440. 50 

From July 1, 1910, to June 30, 1911 16, 285. 68 

From July 1, 1911, to June 30, 1912 27,737.71 

From July 1, 1912, to June 30, 1913 36, 226. 65 

1913 (estimated) 40, 000. 00 

This is not all the income to the State from this source, for, as a 
matter of fact, the State and the counties receive in all about 46 per 
cent of the total gross receipts from the national forests within the 
State. The expenses of administration are paid by the Federal Gov- 
ernment. The gross revenue is divided as follows: 25 per cent is 

1 Figures from Report of Land Commission, 1912-1914, p. 63. 



THE SCHOOL LANDS. 123 

paid to the counties, in proportion to tlie forest area in each for the 
joint benefit of the common schools and roads; 10 per cent is expended 
on the roads within the forests under direction of the Secretary of 
Agriculture, and about 11 per cent is paid to the State as the pro- 
portion to which the school fund is entitled under the terms of the 
enabling act. 

The total undivided forest, school, and road fund in the last five 
years has been : ^ 

1911-12 $55, 385. 62 

1912-13 151, 039. 75 

1913-14' 74,659.49 

1914-15 68, 398. 34 

1915-16 59, 807. 89 

(d) SCHOOL LAJSTDS ON INDIAN KESEEVATIONS. 

Of the public-school lands included in sections 2, 16, 32, and 36, 
the sum of 1,746,860.01 acres is included in Indian reservations. 
About 24 per cent of the acreage of the whole State is bound up in 
Indian reservations, and of this amount almost exactly one-tenth 
would of right belong to the schools. The school lands thus in- 
cluded in the reservations make up about 21.5 per cent of the total 
school possessions. The largest of these tracts is the 903,837.51 acres 
within the Navajo Eeservation, and the smallest the 560 acres within 
the Mojave Eeservation. The San Carlos Apaches cover 177,920 acres 
and the White Mountain Apaches (Fort Apache) almost an identical 
amount. The revised statutes of the United States provide that 
when such school lands fall within the limits of Indian reservations 
the State may either select other lands of equal value or it may 
await the extinction of the Indian title. A preliminary survey of 
these lands made by the land commission of the State brought the 
conclusion that with certain exceptions the school lands within the 
reservations should be relinquished and indemnity lands taken in 
their place, for they are practically all desert. This was regarded as 
especially true of the Navajo and Moqui lands, which contain 
1,177,945.09 acres, and which, after careful investigation, were con- 
sidered as practically worthless. With reference to the two Apache 
reservations, making up a total of 355,679.25 acres, and the Kaibab 
and Colorado Eiver reservations containing 41,267.65 acres, it was 
thought best for the State to await the extinguishment of the Indian 
title, for the Colorado Eiver lands are susceptible of irrigation either 
by pumping or diversion, while portions of the Apache lands are well 
watered and susceptible of extensive development. 

1 See Reports State Treasurer for 1911-12 to 1915-16. 
» See Report of Land Commission, 1912-1914, p. 63. 



124 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN AillZONA. 

Of the remaining school lands, 168,707.62 acres are appropriated 
by United States entry, and so subject to indemnity ; 76,164.11 acres 
are reported as in other reservations, and 3,134,555.20 acres as im- 
surveyed and unreserved, but the land commission is of the opinion 
that these lands when available will average quite as high in value 
as those now in place. The total withdrawal for survey up to 
January 1, 1917, amounted to 4,346,145 acres. 

Although the public schools possess some very valuable tracts of 
land, like the 25,000 acres under the Salt River and Yuma Govern- 
ment projects and many other tracts which fall within well-settled 
and well-developed districts, it will be found on comparing these 
lands with the institutional lands, that their average value is in 
general low. This is because large sections fall in the mountains 
and in localities that possess no advantages or possibilities except 
for grazing, while some tracts are occasionally totally barren. 

n. THE INSTITUTIONAL LANDS. 

It is now possible to turn from the public-school lands to the insti- 
tutional lands. The amount of these lands, and the definite purpose 
to which each allotment has been assigned, has been considered 
already.^ 

It remains only to review briefly the progress made in selecting 
these lands from the public domain. The lands granted the State 
for institutions by the enabling act amounted to 2,350,000 acres, and 
by the terms of the act they were to be selected by a commission 
composed of the governor, the surveyor general, or some other per- 
son acting with the authority of that officer, and the attorney 
general. To meet the requirements of the law the chairman of the 
State land commission has performed the duties of the surveyor 
general. Up to December 1, 1914, the date of his first report, 
formal selection had been made of 636,661.16 acres, of Avhich patents 
for 289,358.12 acres had been issued, while an additional amount 
of 3,993,235 acres had been withdrawn from settlement for survey 
and selection, so that in all the commission has initiated the State's 
claim on a total of 4,629,896.16 acres. With the selection of these 
institutional lands goes also the selection of indemnity public-school 
lands, " to reimburse the common-school grant for such portions 
of the place lands granted for that purpose as have been or may 
hereafter be alienated by settlers prior to the survey of the land or 
prior to the rights of the State accruing." On December 1, 1914, 
there had been thus alienated 168,707.62 acres, " and this amount, 
as the public land surveys go forward, will increase." 

In selecting these institutional lands and withdrawing them from 
survey the principle has been followed that they should have either a 

i Ch. 8, p. 88. 



THE SCHOOL LANDS. 125 

present or a prospective agricultural value. This has been done on 
the theory that (1) the lands susceptible of cultivation or of reclama- 
tion by any method will ultimately be the most valuable, and (2) that 
the reservation of lands " at present fit only for grazing, but possess- 
ing the elements of a much higher degree of economic usefulness, 
spells the highest type of true conservation and the insurance of 
steady and sane development." In accord with these ideas, out of the 
636,661.16 acres selected and patents to which have been asked, it is 
estimated that 618,891.89 acres " are susceptible of some form of agri- 
cultural development," that 578,193.16 acres have a grazing value, 
and that 8,744.61 acres have a woodland value. The lands selected lie 
mostly in Cochise, Graham, Maricopa, Pima, Pinal, Yavapai, and 
Yuma Counties, and out of the 2,350,000 acres given, there are yet 
to be selected 1,713,339.65 acres.^ None have been located in Gila, 
Greenlee, or Santa Cruz Counties. 

Of all the institutions thus favored with public lands, the miners' 
hospital and the military institutions have alone to date located 
practically all their lands. 

Under the congressional act of February 18, 1881, 72 sections of 
land were given to the Territory " for the use and support of a uni- 
versity." In 1882 Hon. Moses Hazeltine Sherman, then Territorial 
superintendent of public instruction, filed on 45,678.68 acres of land 
in Coconino County and now embraced in the Coconino and Tusayan 
National Forests. Of these lands 36,890.14 acres were approved in 
1890. In 1904 a further grant of 320 acres for a desert laboratory 
was selected near Tucson. The university therefore has 37,210.14 
acres, and there is a balance of 8,869.86 acres still to be selected. The 
land already patented embraces 58| sections; some 3,596.24 acres are 
suitable in some measure for agricultural purposes ; the entire area is 
most excellent for gi^azing but " by far the greatest value of the land 
lies in its magnificent stand of western yellow pine," estimated on 
February 1, 1913, as amounting to 300,000,000 feet of merchantable 
lumber for the entire area. The university lands, as well as school 
and institutional lands, are administered by the land commission. 

The land commission gives in its first report (p. 165) the total 
amount of receipts from State lands for schools, February 14, 1912, 
to November 30, 1915, as school lands, $131,633.85 ; university lands, 
$61,740.66. 

The land commission discusses also the necessity of a flexible land 
policy. It advocates — 

a policy of land efficiency, elimination of energy and money waste, clear un- 
derstanding and hearty cooperation between Government and citizen. The 

1 The total number of acres granted on this account up to Jan, 1, 1917, was 707,357.16. 
The amount " awaiting approval " by the Land Office was 1,308,505.20 acres, and there 
then remained to be selected a total of 334,137.64 acres. 



126 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

plan includes classification, demonstration, and in necessary cases reclamation, 
directly by the State or by cooperation witli private individuals or with the 
Federal Government. Classification should be scientific and thorough. * * * 
Demonstration would prove an invaluable chart for prospective purchasers. 
* * * Reclamation is essential if the highest efficiency of some hundreds of 
thousands of Arizona's so-called desert acres is to be realized, and if the cry 
for population is to be adequately answered. 

The first land commission report urges also " the necessity existing 
for the establishment, by law, of separate funds corresponding to 
the different purposes for which lands, granted or confirmed by the 
enabling act, are being administered by the commission." ^ 

III. THE LAND LAW OF 1915. 

The State land commission of Arizona created by act of May 20, 
1912 (ch. 93), was by that act given a lease of life extending to the 
end of the legislative session of 1915. It therefore became necessary 
to reestablish the commission by a new act. This was done by 
chapter 5, second special session, approved on June 26, 1915.^ This 
act provided for a State land department and created the office of 
commissioner of State lands to carry out the provision of tne act. 
The State land department is composed of a body of five, made up 
of the governor, secretary of state, attorney general. State treas- 
urer, and State auditor. They were to appoint the State land com- 
missioner and were to sell or lease lands. The commissioner was in 
charge of all State lands except such as are under the specific use 
and control of State institutions. He and his assistants were re- 
quired to give bond and make a semiannual report. The governor, 
the land commissioner, and the attorney general were constituted 
a board to make selections of lands and perform other duties per- 
taining to securing titles. This board reproduces the old board created 
by the act of 1912 and to whom the executive work of the State land' 
commission was then intrusted. Lands were to be classified as agri- 
cultural, grazing, timber, etc. They were to be appraised, and own- 
ers were entitled to reimbursement for improvements. Lands might 
be leased for not more than five years; not more than 160 acres of 
agricultural land or 640 acres grazing land to one person, association, 
or corporation. Grazing lands were to be leased for not less than 3 
cents per acre and agricultural lands for not less than 2^ per cent 
of their estimated value. Leases reserved to the State oil, gas, coal, 

1 This discussion of the public lands in Arizona granted by the Federal Government 
for the use of schools is based on the report of the State land commission of Arizona 
for the period between June 6, 1912 (the date of its organization under the law of 
May 20, 1912), and Dec. 1, 1914. This report contains a detailed discussion and i-evlew 
of the whole subject as relating to Arizona and presents both an interesting and valuable 
study of the subject. The first three biennial reports for July 1, 1915, to Dec. 31, 
1916. have been consulted also. 

* See acts, second special session, 1915, pp. 13-57. 



THE SCHOOL LANDS. 127 

ore, minerals, fertilizers, and fossils. Lessees who did not renew 
leases might remove their improvements or sell them to the new lessee 
or purchaser. 

State lands in general are subject to appraisement and sale. 
Those containing minerals or oil or adjacent to such lands in private 
lands are ^vithheld from sale. The commissioner might sell with- 
out application, but total yearly sales were limited to 200,000 acres, 
and this amount was not to include more than 320 acres of lands 
susceptible of immediate cultivation, except irrigable lands. The 
minimum price of such lands was $3 per acre and of lands in ir- 
rigation projects not less than $25 per acre. The terms of sale were 
1 per cent of purchase price when the successful bidder was an- 
nounced; 4 per cent on delivery of certificate of sale; the remainder 
in 38 annual payments with interest at 5 per cent. The purchaser 
might discharge the whole debt at any time by paying interest in 
advance for six months. If the purchaser failed to pay principal 
and interest when due, the certificate of purchase was to be for- 
feited. 

In accord with the directions of the constitution the act of 1915 
created 15 special funds to receive the moneys accruing from the sale 
of the public lands. These funds are as follows: (a) Permanent 
school fund; (5) university land fund; (c) legislative, executive, and 
judicial buildings fund; (d) penitentiary land fund; (e) asylum for 
the insane land fund; (/) schools and asylums for the deaf, dumo, 
and blind land fund; (g) miners' hospital for disabled miners' land 
fund; (A) normal school land fund; (i) State charitable, penal, and 
reformatory institutions land fund ; (j) agricultural and mechanical 
college land fund; (k) school of mines land fund; (l) military in- 
stitutes land fund; (m) county bonds land fund; (n) State land ad- 
ministrative land fund; (o) State land classification and appraise- 
ment fund. Of these funds perhaps all except those numbered c, 
d, e, and g bore either directly or indirectly on the subject of public 
education. 

The State treasurer was directed to invest the money belonging 
to any of these permanent funds in United States bonds, Arizona 
bonds, or in bonds of the counties, municipalities, and school districts 
of the State, or in first mortgages on farm lands. 

It will be noted that the new law increases the power of the land 
department. It is now authorized to lease mineral lands ; to conduct 
investigations and experiments to determine which lands are svM- 
able for agriculture, which may be made so by the development of 
water, and which are suitable for grazing purposes only. It also has 
power to make and file water locations and appropriations, reservoir, 
dam, and power sites ; to control and dispose of stone and gravel and 



128 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

other land products. The receipts of the land commission are now 
assigned to the proper fund to which they belong, and which were 
created by the act of 1915. The permanent school fund received:^ 

July 1 to Dec. 31, 1915 $36,805.73 

Jan. 1 to June 30, 1916 53, 542. 39 

July 1 to Dec. 31, 1916 137, 741. 67 

The institutions land funds were:^ 

Jan. 1 to June 30, 1916 $6, 124. 65 

July l.to Dec. 31, 1916 18, 96L 35 

After the selection and patenting of the school and institutional 
lands, the most important duties of the land department are those 
connected with the appraising, leasing, and selling of these lands to 
settlers. The demand is steadily increasing. In the first half year 
of administration under the present law, the period from July 1 to 
December 31, 1915, the total applications for all counties were 604, 
covering 249,350.01 acres. The total number of applications for these 
lands from the date of statehood, February 14, 1912, to December 31, 
1916, was 15,939, of which 8,592 applications or more than half were 
received in the six months between July 1 and December 31, 1916. 
During this same six months' period a total of 648,500 acres were se- 
lected by the State, and there were still to be selected by the terms 
of the enabling act a balance of 200,000 acres of institutional lands. 

igee State treasurer's reports. 



Chapter X. 
THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE. 



When a general view of the history and growth of the public 
school movement in Arizona is undertaken, it is easily possible to 
comprehend the steady, if uneven, development in the course of the 
same. In the first place the Territory did not receive its preliminary 
organization until the days of the Civil War, and was therefore the 
heir of all that had been said or done or thought on the subject of 
education in the older States. In the next place the first American 
settlers came from States in which the public system was already 
more or less developed, and in seeking for a basis of action in their 
new surroundings they naturally turned to the experience they had 
had in their earlier homes ; and finally their proposed new organiza- 
tion was to meet no insuperable obstacle in its path, for the Indians, 
averse to all civilization, had to be subdued first of all by force of 
arms, and the Mexicans, although reared under the theory of church 
schools only, and in general favorable to that view so far as they 
had any intelligent opinions, only for a brief interval presented any 
serious obstacle to the development of public education. Lastly, the 
Territorjr was practically wanting in schools of any sort, so that 
there was little or no resistance from other interests. There were no 
private or Protestant church schools. Such Catholic schools as 
existed were devoted largely to the education of Mexican and Indian 
children, and were separated to a certain extent from the field to 
which public-school workers were mainly devoting themselves. It is 
therefore substantially true to say that the first advocates of the 
public school found a field without previous claimants, clear of ob- 
stacles, fallow for cultivation, and with the greater part of the more 
intelligent population in direct sympathy with its purpose. 

This was the situation during the earlier years of the Territory. 
Fortunately, the men in charge of the organization knew their duties 
and met its requirements like men. The Howell code, drawn up 
before the meeting of the first legislature, provided for the organiza- 
tion of a school system which was unquestioningly accepted as its 
rule of action at the first meeting of the representatives of the people. 

As soon as practicable the legislature turned to the subject of 

school legislation. As early as 1867 they passed their first school 

law. This was amended, improved, and reenacted in 1868. It 

provided for a system of schools based on the idea that local taxation 

61563°— 18 9 129 



130 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

should alone be responsible for the support of the teaching force. 
This idea was an error. The population was weak and scattered; 
the local wealth was small ; the property holders were not accustomed 
to taxes for local school purposes ; and as the Territory as such did 
nothing, the laws of 1867 and 1868 accomplished little; not more 
than one or two schools were organized, and these did little or 
nothing in serving as centers from which the light of education 
might penetrate primeval darkness. The law of 1868 recognized, 
however, the necessity of local supervision, also a certain necessary 
uniformity in the -textbooks and the certification of teachers, but this 
law likewise failed to accomplish its purpose; schools remained a 
purely local matter, and the subject of education slept till the coming 
of a new governor. 

The new governor appeared in 1869. He was Anson P. K. Saf- 
ford, and from California came this new Moses, destined to lead 
Arizona from darkness to educational light. To him it was given 
to win for himself the title of Father of the Public Schools. Well 
does he deserve the title. He found them a pleasing theory; he 
left them a thriving reality. Since his day the question of their 
final triumph over all obstacles has not been an article of faith but 
one of fact, demonstrated by tangible evidence. It is a long story, 
this long, stern fight against the indifference of ignorance and the 
opposition of a small body of men who sought to weaken school 
progress by dividing school funds. 

In 1871 a new school bill, based on the California school law, 
was introduced and passed and has been the basis of practically 
all school legislation since that time. But the school act of 1871 
was not obtained without effort. The earlier school laws had failed 
to accomplish their purpose, while the Apaches had been far too 
successful in their efforts to destroy the settlements. They had waged 
almost ceaseless warfare since the organization of the Territory. 
Many citizens had been slain, many ranches and settlements broken 
up. The legislators were more or less demoralized, and to the gov- 
ernor's urging that the bill be passed they .asked "What's the use?" 
But the governor was insistent; he called to his aid Estevan Ochoa, 
the leading Mexican in the Territory, and to the objection that 
the Apaches were overrunning the country pointed out that they 
would in time be subdued and without schools the settlers would 
themselves soon be as unfit for self-government as the Apaches. 

The bill did not become a law till the last day of the session, and 
then with most of the revenue stricken out. But the new law had 
features which redeemed it from the weakness of the earlier acts 
and made it a basis of future activity. It provided for a Terri- 
torial superintendent of schools, but as money was scarce and the 
enthusiasm of the governor great, the duties of the new office were 



THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AOT> THE FUTTTEE. 131 

attached to that of the governor without extra pay further than an 
allowance for traveling expenses. It thus provided for Territorial 
supervision, levied a compulsory Territorial tax of 10 cents on the 
hundred for school purposes, and also ordered a county tax of 50 
cents on the hundred. In these taxes the legislature recognized the 
public-school system as one of the necessary parts of a modern 
State and provided for its support in the same manner and by the 
same methods as other State activities. Then and there the ques- 
tion of public support for public schools was settled for all time. 
Only once in the history of the Territory was this theory challenged 
and then in vain. 

From the time that the bill of 1871 became a law Grov. Safford was 
its most persistent advocate. Up and down the length and breadth 
of the Territory, into every comity, in the most out-of-the-way places 
he went, seeking to arouse and encourage the scattered settlements 
to provide for and organize schools. Advice, direction, suggestion, 
help, correction, enthusiasm, and courage were poured out like water 
in a thirsty land; everywhere and always did this devoted mis- 
sionary preach the new gospel. Not only did he visit the older and 
more secure sections but also the new settlements where the blood 
of Apache victims was still fresh on the ground. Up and down 
through this sun-kissed land, across swollen streams or up their dry 
beds, over sandy deserts, through naked and forbidding mountains, 
risking encounters with wild animals and wilder men, passed this 
modern representative of the spirit of the age, this apostle of modern 
democracy, preaching alwaj^s in season and out of season the new 
doctrine of educational salvation. Always abounding in the work 
which he had set himself to do, Gov. Safford won over suspicion and 
overcame opposition. He brought a principal to Prescott from 
Vermont; he brought teachers to Tucson from California. He came, 
he saw, he conquered. Only once did the opposition seriously 
threaten his plans; this was in 1875 when it was proposed to give 
to religious organizations their share of the public funds for pa- 
rochial schools. But the sober sense of the people asserted itself; 
the proposed plan was rejected, and the public schools went on 
secure in their new freedom. 

The result of the enthusiastic work of the governor was that the 
public schools began to take a firm hold on public consciousness. 
They took deep root in the soil of public confidence which he had so 
carefully prepared. They grew and developed. They prospered and 
increased year by year. The years 1874—75 and 1875-76 seem to rep- 
resent the high-water mark for the period of Gov. Safford's activities. 
In 1876-77 a decline set in, for in April of the latter year he resigned 
the governorship because of impaired health. 



132 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

The unfavorable reaction of that year is clearly shown in the avail- 
able statistics, but the schools had made a good start, the momentum 
already attained soon carried them over this handicap and there was 
a substantial increase in 1877-78 in the total enrollment, average at- 
tendance, and total income, and this last item permitted an increase in 
expenditures. The number of teachers increased, but there was a 
shortening of the school term, and owing to a general fall of prices a 
decrease in teachers' wages. It may be said therefore that the with- 
drawal of Gov. Safford from school leadership did not have the per- 
manent effects that might have been expected. He had builded so 
well that his removal caused only a temporary reaction, and it awoke 
the legislature to the desirability of putting the schools under a sep- 
arate officer. This was done by the act of February 14, 1879, but no 
salary was attached to the office other than the $500 per annum for- 
merly allowed the governor for expenses. 

Gov. Fremont commissioned Moses H. Sherman, then principal of 
the Prescott schools, to take over the schools of the whole Territory in 
addition to his other school duties as superintendent at Prescott. It 
does not appear, however, that Sherman did much more than attend 
to the clerical duties of the office. The organization of the schools, 
the evolution of a course of study, the perfecting and settling on a 
series of textbooks to be used throughout the Territory, the codifica- 
tion and coordination of the school laws, the revising and defining 
the duties of county school officers, the organization of county insti- 
tutes, the readjustment of county and Territorial school taxes, the 
proper apportionment of school funds, the recognition and granting 
of diplomas, the certification of teachers, were all matters which were 
left in the main by Supt. Sherman to his official successors. To Supts. 
Horton and Long is due the chief credit of taking the disjointed, dis- 
connected, unorganized, and never articulated elements of a Terri- 
torial system and uniting them into a single whole. This work was 
largely accomplished in the administrations running from 1883 to 
1887. 

But while the decade of the eighties saw the first organization of 
the schools into a Territorial system started on its way, the same 
decade and the next witnessed the bitter factional fights that were 
growing out of the general educational situation of Territorial 
affairs. The Territory was naturally Democratic in politics. The 
Federal Government, on the other hand, was for the greater part 
of the time Republican, and its appointees, the Territorial governor 
and superintendent, were of the same political faith. There was 
therefore constant friction between the people and the administra- 
tion. This resulted in serious limitations on the superintendent's au- 
thority ; he was reduced to the position of a clerk ; once they refused 
to confirm a superintendent because refusal to confirm made it pes- 



THE PAST^ THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE. 133 

sible for his successor to be a member of the administration majority; 
in another case the salary of the regularly appointed superintendent 
was cut more than in half by the legislature to force him to resign ; 
while in other cases men were forced out of positions in the normal 
school simply because they were not members of the right political 
group, and these are only the worst phases of a struggle which was 
kept up for more than a decade, which penetrated to the very ex- 
termities of the system and affected seriously the work of the period. 
The greatest harm was done between 1887 and 1899. Before that 
date this spirit had manifested itself but little; after that time the 
people came to realize the harm that was, coming to themselves from 
this unhappy mixture of politics and education, and a working basis 
of forbearance was attained, and the schools entered on a period of 
more harmonious development. 

The close of the century marks also a realization of the necessity 
for fewer administrative changes, more uniformity in development, 
and greater continuity of ideals. Since the beginning of this cen- 
tury, and especially since the attainment of statehood, the system has 
been more and more in the way of realizing this desirable situation. 
Superintendents have therefore been better able to evolve their plans 
and carry them into execution, the schools have been less handicapped 
by failure to follow out plans when once undertaken. Since admis- 
sion to statehood and the recognition of the school superintendency 
as an elective office, the conflict between political parties which ap- 
peared often in Territorial days has disappeared. 

The question of school funds has always been less of a problem in 
Arizona than in most States. The schools have usually been able to 
command all the funds needed for their normal development. In 
the past it has even been found necessary to reduce taxes to prevent 
an accumulation of more funds than could be used, but other prob- 
lems, that of distance, for instance, is ever present and will be for 
very many years to come, for there are still many stretches of wild 
waste separating one community from another, and many small 
mining camps and isolated ranches must suffer for the lack of oppor- 
tunities for education that does not apply to the larger centers. It 
is the old trouble which has always been a bugbear to scattered com- 
munities in thinly settled States. Arizona is liberal in her provisions 
for the small community, recognizing it if there are as many as eight 
pupils, but there are still localities with a few pupils only, who do 
not as yet receive the fostering care of the State. 

Since the State has come into the administration of her public- 
school lands this great estate is being taken over as fast as it can be 
selected and surveyed. The State is making wise provisions for its 
sale, fixing minimum prices for the same, and the sales seem to be 
conducted with a minimum of irregularity. The income from this 



134 



PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 



source is increasing from year to year and bids fair in the future to 
become in itself so important that it will go far toward maintaining 
the school system. 

The trend of progress may be shown by statistics from 1880 to 
date, which in the case of this State cover practically the whole field 
of its history. 

Comparative taUe of illiteracy. 





Illiterates 10 years of age and over. 


Illiterates 

10 to 20 years 

of age. 


Years. 


Native white. 


Foreign white. 


Negro. 


AU classes. 




Num- 
ber. 


Per 
cent. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 
cent. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 
cent. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 
cent. 


Num- 
ber. 


Per 

cent. 


1880 


1,225 
2,056 
3,096 
3,776 


8.1 
7.9 
6.2 
4.2 


3,599 
6,900 
7,552 
13,758 


26.8 
42.2 
35.3 
31.5 


11,018 
245 
211 
122 


23.7 
19.2 
12.7 
7.2 


5,842 
10, 785 
27, 307 
32,953 


17.7 
19.5 
29.0 
20.9 


1,659 

2 2,621 

6,243 

7,146 


24.7 


1890 


24 1 


1900 


22 9 











» "Colored persons"; no mention of Chinese or others. = Estimated. 

These tables when interpreted mean that there was an absolute 
increase in the number of illiterates in the State at each census from 
1880 to 1910, inclusive; that this increase was nearly 13 per cent 
when measured in per cents, and in actual numbers was 21,465 
greater in 1900 than in 1890 ; that only in the decade beginning with 
1900 did the Territory recover its equilibrium, for in 1910 the total 
illiteracy had been reduced by 8.1 per cent, but the per cent is still 
greater than in 1880 and the State yet has a great work before it. 

That while the number of white illiterates is now three times as 
great as in 1880, in percentage it is a little less than one-half as 
great; that while the number of illiterate foreigners was greater in 
1910 than in 1880 by 10,259, in per cents it is less than 5 per cent 
greater than in 1880 and is 11 per cent less than 1890; that Negro 
illiterates have decreased steadily both in number and per cents; 
that while the number of illiterates between 10 and 20 years of age 
has increased from 1,659 to 7,146, the per cent has decreased from 
24.7 to 18 per cent. 

While these figures taken by themselves would seem to indicate 
that in some respects the State is doing little more than holding its 
own, it will be noticed that when 1900 and 1910 are compared the 
progress of the last decade becomes clearly visible, and most of the 
best work of the State has even been done since the last census was 
taken. The progress of the young State, as compared with the 
Territorial period, may be briefly summarized as follows: 

With the better articulation that has obtained in recent years 
the educational institutions have developed rapidly, and the normal 
schools and university are now in a fair way to supply the State 



THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE. 135 

demand for teachers, although at present the laws in force discourage 
the young teacher from beginning work in his home State. Educa- 
tional journalism is behind, due undoubtedly to lack of support, this 
coming in turn from lack of teachers and the scarcity of persons 
interested in educational problems. The State has not yet grown 
beyond the stage of physical necessities on the one hand and the 
mere accumulation of wealth on the other, but the basis of the 
centralization and expression of school thought has been laid in the 
teachers' county institutes and the Teachers' State Association. 
With all the money needed, the State still awaits the increase in 
personnel which is as necessary as material. Indeed, one of the 
troubles in Arizona has always been that the pupils increased faster 
than the accommodations. For this reason it was ofttimes impos- 
sible to enforce the compulsory attendance laws. Schoolhouses, 
although built by bond issues more often than by taxes, at this 
period were often inadequate. 

In recent years commendable progress has been made toward 
centralization. The examination of teachers is in the hands of the 
State superintendent. He mails the questions for the formal 
teachers' examinations to the county superintendents, who acting 
in the capacity of educational clerks set the examination. The 
papers are then read and graded in the superintendent's office and 
to each teacher is guaranteed equality of treatment and of marking. 
The offices of county judge of probate and county superintendent 
have been entirely separated by law, and salaries assigned in pro- 
portion to services rendered. 

The State board of education is the authority in the organization 
and administration of educational affairs. The State superintendent 
takes his orders from this board and is its executive officer. 

The enrollment and attendance in Arizona have always been rela- 
tively high, and in the last 20 years the enrollment has never been 
less than 71 per cent (1913-14) of the school population and has 
been as high as 86 per cent (1910-11). During the same period the 
per cent of those enrolled in average attendance has risen from 59 
(1898-99) to 78.5 per cent in 1915-16, and the per cent of school 
population in average attendance has gone from 41.6 per cent in 
1901-2 to 56.1 per cent in 1915-16.^ It is to be noted also that this 
attendance is on a basis of the total school population between 6 and 
21 years of age and makes no allowance for pupils in private schools. 
This increase in attendance is not at any uniform rate, but when one 
period is compared with another it becomes very marked. 

^ The Bureau of Education figures out that the average daily attendance of all pupils 
between 5 and 18 years was in 1913-14 as much as 74.2 per cent for the whole United 
States. On the same basis Arizona was given an attendance of 67.5 per cent. When 
the three years above 18 are Included, the attendance average would naturally be 
lower. 



136 



PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 



The standardization of schools is being advanced and schoolhouses 
are being erected, larger and better than those of earlier decades and 
well suited to the needs of the day. Industrial and vocational edu- 
cation is recognized and provided for in special institutions, in the 
university, the normal schools, and also in the high schools. The 
State, after a long preliminary period in which uniformity of text- 
books was provided by law but not alwa^^s enforced in practice, has 
come to realize the desirability of providing all books at State ex- 
pense, and a pension system is being tried. Many of these lines of 
endeavor are still in the trial period, but they indicate the trend of 
the times. 

As yet there has not been attained in Arizona the centralization 
needed to place on the State department of education the responsi- 
bility for providing equal opportunities. As recently pointed out by 
the survey of the United States Bureau of Education the board 
itself should be reorganized and its power increased; all politics 
should be eliminated in both county and State affairs ; the powers of 
the county board should be increased also with a reorganization of 
the methods of apportionment and an extension of expert supervision 
of rural schools. 

When these and similar measures have been carried out there will 
not be lacking the centralized administration necessary to attain 
State-wide progress " without unnecessary delay and expense." 



PUBLIC SCHOOL STATISTICS— 1870=1916. 

Table 1. — School populaiion, teachers, property, and school year. 



Years. 


School 
popula- 
tion.' 


Teachers. 


Schools.2 


Monthly 
salary. 


Days in 
school 
year. 


Value 

school 

property. 


1870 


1,923 
1,660 
2,584 
2,508 
2,955 












1 872-7-1 














11 
14 
21 
31 
37 
51 
101 
102 
126 
98 
143 
131 
150 
175 
191 
199 
240 


11 

14 
21 
28 
28 
51 
101 
148 
98 
104 
121 
137 
150 
169 
184 
197 
219 
237 
251 


« SIOO. 00 
100. 00 
110.00 
100. 00 
91.00 
74.00 
83.00 
84.00 


180 
ISO 




1874-75 




1875-76 




1876-77 


190 
124 
165 
109 


«44,436 




3,089 
5,291 
7,148 
9,.'S71 
10,283 
9,376 
9,376 
10,219 
10,219 
10, 303 
10,303 
12, 588 
12,976 
13,874 
14,710 


1878-79 


78 681 


1879 80 


113,074 
121,318 


1880-81 








1882-83 


75.00 
85.00 
86.00 
78.00 
81.00 
80.00 
79.00 
77.00 


120 
140 
120 
140 
143 
124 
135 
126 
127 
124 


82 183 


1883 84 


153,466 
212,386 
201,984 


1884-85* 


1885-86* 


1886-87 < 


176,238 
222,219 
222,958 


1887-88 * 


1888-89* 


1889_90< 


268,435 
297,444 




1891-92 






320,609 









1 Until 1883 the school age was 6 to 21; 1884 to April, 1901, 6 to 18; since 1901, 6 to 21. 

« During the earlier years these are referred to as "school rooms," "in 1881-82, as districts." They were 
one-teacher schools. 

« Through 1880-81 these figures are for men. The salaries of women were as follows: 1873-74, $100; 1874-75, 
$100; 1875-76, $90; 1876-77, $50; 1877-78, $74; 1878-79, $68; 1879-80, $70; 1880-81, $68. The figures given 
beginning with 1882-&3 are the average of all salaries. 

* From report for 1889-90; these figures do not always agree with those in other reports. They are 
probably in most cases only approximate. 



THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE. 137 

Table 1. — School poimlaUon, teachers, property, and school year — Continued, 



Years. 


School 
popula- 
tion. 


Teachers. 


Schools. 


Monthly 
salary. 


Days in 
school 
year. 


Value 

school 

property. 


1S92 93 


15, 463 
16,403 
15,909 
16,936 
17,427 
18,802 
19,823 
20,833 
23,435 
25,259 
25,951 
27,324 
29,290 
30,230 
33,169 
34,299 
34; 299 
36.729 
38; 611 
42,381 
46,681 
53, 845 
56,471 
61,073 


293 
321 
324 
350 
435 
373 
399 
445 
457 
482 
519 
536 
554 
626 
645 


265 
289 
261 
293 
337 
347 
375 
398 
428 
442 
467 
498 
523 
542 
596 
633 


$78. 18 
75.30 
70.41 
68.54 
65.41 
67.50 
67.77 
67.09 
68.47 
75.30 
71.00 
72.00 
72.21 
74.55 
74.91 
79.19 


130 

124 

120 

126 

128 

130 

127 

125 

128 

125 

125 

130 

125 

125 

128.4 

135 


$344,646 
405,446 
414,447 
428 935 




1894-95 


1895-9fi 


1896-97 


445^379 


1897 98 






490,504 
529,024 
612 929 


1899-1900 . ... 


1900-1901 


1901-2 


654,942 




1903-4 


882 790 


1904-5 


970^902 
1,041,888 


1905-6 






1907-8 


1,409,788 


1908-9 


1909 10 










■ 




876 
895 
1,020 
1,096 
1,219 
1,364 


765 

814 

865 

1,020 

1, 0S2 

1,138 


84.70 
86.58 
86. 98 
89.56 
91.61 
91.76 










1,845,021 
2,102,419 


1912-13 




1913 14 


1914-15 



















Table 2. — Enrollment and attendance. 



Total 
school en- 
rollment. 



Per cent 
of school 
population 
enrolled. 



school 
attendance 



Per cent 
of enroll- 
ment in 



Per cent 
of school 
population 
in average 



1872-73. 
1873-74. 
1874-75. 
1875-76. 
1876-77. 
1877-78. 
1878-79. 
1879-80. 
1880-81 . 



1886-87. 
1887-88. 



1890-91 . 
1891-92. 
1892-93. 
1893-94. 
l894r-95. 
1895-96. 
1896-97. 



1900-1901. 
1901-2..., 
1902-3..., 
1903^... 
1904-5..., 
1905-6..., 
1906-7..., 
1907-8... 
1910-11.., 
1911-12.., 
1912-13... 
1913-14. . . 
1914-15... 
1915-16... 



333 

343 

568 

1,213 

903 

2,740 

3,143 

4,212 

3,844 

3,751 

4,516 

4,974 

6,076 



10, 104 
11,319 
11,450 

13', 367 
14,713 
15, 893 
16,504 
17,817 
19,203 
20, 008 
21,366 
21,792 
23,223 
25, 360 
27,023 
33, 029 
33,310 
33,336 
42,036 
43,316 
47,945 



20.0 
13.2 
22.3 
41.0 



59.3 
58.9 
40.2 
40.0 
48.1 
48.6 
59.6 



65.3 
63.7 
71.9 
76.1 
76.7 
78.2 
80.2 
79.2 
76.0 
76.0 
77.1 
78.1 
74.4 
76.8 
76.1 
78.7 
86.8 
78.6 
75.0 
71.1 
72.8 
71.5 



1,102 

2,847 



2,554 
3,287 
3,226 
3,507 
3,602 
3,849 
4,293 
4,702 
5,047 
5,198 
5,340 
6,791 
7,034 
7,641 
8,983 
9,011 
9,396 
10,177 
10, 951 
11,514 
12,105 
13,022 
14, 009 
14,448 
15,667 
16, 928 
21,776 
22,813 
25, 003 
29,912* 
31, 555 
34,257 



73.8 
74.2 



32.5 
35.1 
67.6 



68.0 

72.8 
64.9 
57.7 



52.5 
60.0 
61.4 
59.2 
67.2 
61.2 
59.1 
61.6 
61.4 

60!4 
60.9 
64.3 
62.2 
61.8 
62.6 
65.9 

7L4 

78.1 
76.6 

78.5 



27.2 
35.0 
31.5 
34.3 
34.9 
37.3 
34.1 
37.0 
36.4 
35.3 
34.5 
41.9 
44.1 
45.1 
51.5 
47.9 
47.4 
48.8 
42.4 
41.6 
46.6 
47.6 
47.4 
47.7 
47.2 
49.3 
56.1 
53.8 
53.5 
55.5 
55.9 
56.1 



138 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ARIZONA. 

Table 3. — School revenue and school expenditures. 



Years. 


Income 
from 
State 

taxes. 


County 
and dis- 
trict taxes 


From 
other 

funds, in- 
cluding 

balances. 


Total 
receipts. 


Salaries of 
teachers 

and super- 
intend- 
ents. 


Miscella. 

neous ex- 
pendi- 
tures. 


Total ex- 
pendi- 
tures. 


Tax valua- 
tion, hun- 
dreds 
omitted. 


1872-73 








$5,849 

11,417 

28,760 

31,449 

20,708 

21,396 

32,421 

67,028 

58, 768 

101, 967 

101,390 

205,901 

186,666 

159,956 

120,045 

157, 707 

179, 782 

201, 289 

236, 743 

.247,202 

266, 069 

205, 611 

211,278 

219,116 

219,778 

250,279 

295,884 

421, 776 

411,244 

530, 649 

501,460 

655,859 

531, 575 

579, 385 

697, 762 

814,063 






$20,211 




1873-74 














1874-75 


$4,690 


$9,232 


$14,837 






24, 152 
28,744 

18,407 

21,396 

29,200 

61, 172 

44,628 

98,268 

77,998 

161,862 

138, 165 

135,030 

117,005 

130,212 

150, 543 

177, 484 

198, 762 

.207,898 

221,213 

176,671 

203,016 

214,451 

205, 949 

224, 186 

241,556 

345,314 

336,839 

401, 236 

412,741 

438,828 

515,828 

612, 703 

669,362 

924,926 




1875-76 


$11,089 


$17,655 




1876-77 










1877-78 














1878-79 














1879-80 














1880-81 














1881-82 














1882-83 


19,007 
27,959 
19, 199 

10,662 


82,383 
177, 942 
87,768 
85,760 


0) 
(1) 

' 18,' 441 






$31,588,000 
30,228,000 
28, 683, 000 


1883-84 


59,878 
78,839 
89,551 




1884-85* 




1885-86* 




23,207,000 
26,194,000 
25,913,000 
27,057,000 
28,050,000 
28,270,000 
27,923,000 
28; 486, 000 
27,062,000 


1886-872 




1887-882 












1888-892 

1889-902 

1890-91 


3,496 
1,783 


145,809 
170, 277 


30, 477 
29, 239 


105, 910 
123,178 


44, 634 
54,306 


1891-92 












1892-93 












1893-94 












1894-95 


3 164,099 

» 190, 743 

3 213, 152 

3 233, 094 

10,000 

11,101 

11,458 

22, 951 

25, 761 

32,439 

38,217 

41,006 

43,833 

66,338 

6 61, 758 

s 54, 687 

5 63,981 

58,308 

124,886 

475,529 

460,852 

478,572 


ni;235 

<2,436 
M54 
204,167 
218,580 
194,285 
209, 736 
249, 118 
271,051 
278,571 
330,057 
397,979 
491,323 


32,913 

17, 138 

4,190 

16, 735 

47,970 

100, 749 

205, 502 

297, 962 

226,581 

252,370 

214,787 

208,323 

255, 949 

256, 402 


140, 573 
152, 438 
155, 991 
169,981 
178,114 
189, 189 
214,266 
224, 600 
242,848 
256, 714 
401,001 
448,924 
508,207 
603,505 


62,444 
62,013 
49,958 
54,295 
60,481 
110,542 
112,572 
176, 636 
172,291 
181,715 
114,826 
163, 780 
161, 155 
321,421 


1895-96 

1896-97 

1897-98 

1898-99 

1899-1900 

1900-1901 

1901-2 

1902-3 

1903-4 

1904-5 

1905-6 

1906-7 

1907-8 

1908-9 


28,047,066 
30,693,000 
31,474,000 
32,510,000 
33,782,000 
38,854,000 
39,083,000 
43,088,000 
45,070,000 
57,920,000 
62,228,000 
77,372,000 
80,638,000 
82,684,000 


1909-10 














86,126,000 
98,033,000 


1910-11 














1911-12 

1912-13 

1913-14 

1914-15 

1915-16 


633,397 
797, 423 
734,946 
695,959 
1,008,441 


1,125,943 
1,419,743 
1,210,475 
2, 173, 602 
2,173,871 


1,817,647 
2, 342, 052 
3,187,023 
3,330,413 
3 660 883 


6 890,533 
941,563 
1,212,116 
1,509,633 
1 F.^'i S7fi 


431,062 

636,577 

1,923,432 

1,064,850 

1,15.1,501 


1,321,595 
1,578,141 
2,135,549 
2,574,484 
2,667,077 


140,388,000 
375,862,000 
407,267,000 
420,000,000 









' Not differentiated. 

2 From report of 1889-90; the figures differ from those in the report of 1885-86. 

3 No returns from Apache and Coconino Counties. 

* Includes district taxes only. 

* These figures from House Journal, special session, 1912, p. 169. 
6 From this date these items are called "school maintenance." 



BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN 
ARIZONA. 

1. PRIMAEY SOXIBCES. 

Arizona Journal of Education. Phoenix, Arizona, 1910-11. 

Volume 1, No. 1, appeared In April, 1910, and the numbers seen run through 
December, 1911, with omissions for July, August, and September. 

Devoted to education in general and to the schools of Arizona in particular. 

Arizona Teacher. 

Volume 1, No. 5, is for June, 1914 ; issued 10 times in the year, omitting July 
and August. 

Edited by J. Colodny, Tucson, Arizona. Vol. 7 begins with February, 1917. 

Arizona Teachers'" Association. Proceedings. 

Report of 1911 annual meeting in Arizonal Journal of Education, 1 : 120-123, 
December, 1910. 24th meeting in Arizona Teacher, 5 : 8-15, May, 1916. 
No meetings appear to have issued their proceedings separately. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 139 

Arizona Weekly Miner. 
Vol. 1, 1871, et seq. 
Auditor, Reports of State Auditor, to date. 

Course of study for the common schools of Arizona. Prepared and adopted by 
the Territorial Board of Education, 1910. 8°. 

Revised edition adopted by the State Board of Education, 

1912. 8°. 

Douglas Public Schools. 

Course of study in domestic science and manual training, 1914-15. 
Dunne, Edmund Francis. Our public schools; are they free or are they not? 
1875. 8°. 

A part of the struggle for church control, by one of the leaders of the church 
party. 

General Assembly Journals. Journals of the House and Senate to date. 
Globe Public Schools. 

Statement, July 1, 1915. Globe [1915]. 

Report, first annual, for 1915-16. 

Report, second annual, for 1916-17. 

Governor's Reports. Reports of the Governor of Arizona to the Secretary of 
the Interior, 1878-1895. Washington, 1878 and later. 

Contain summaries of the progress of education and general reviews of the 
educational situation. 

Hamilton, Patrick. Resources of Arizona, 1883. 8°. 
Second edition, San Francisco, 1884. 12°. 

Much material of general importance, with some items on education. 
Laws : Codes and Session Laws of Arizona, 1864 to date. 

Maricopa County. Report of the school survey made in Maricopa County, Ari- 
zona, by the County Teachers' Association and the Arizona Tax-Payers' 
Association. Phoenix, Arizona [1917]. 8°. 
Munk, Dr. Joseph Amasa. Arizona bibliography. A private collection of Ari- 
zoniana. Los Angeles, Oal., 1908. 

A list of books, pamphlets, etc., on Arizona assembled by Dr. Munk ; now in 
possession of the Southwestern Museum, Los Angeles, Cal. 

This is the second edition of the bibliography. The first edition was issued in 
1900 and the third revised and much enlarged in 1914. 

Public schools of Arizona. Brief historical sketch. In Report of Tucson Pub- 
lic Schools, 1893-94, pp. 25-30. 

Some early Arizona Schools. In Arizona Journal of Education, 2 :75-79, June, 
1911. 
Gives the experiences of an Arizona teacher in the early days. 

Safford, A. P. K. The Territory of Arizona; a brief history and summary. 

Tucson, 1874. 

Has a review of the public schools then organized. 
School laws. (Separate editions.) 

1879. 15 p. 8°. 

1885. 64 p. 8°. 

1887. As approved March 10, 1887. 1887. 61 p. 8*. 

Prescott, 1891. 68 p. 8". 

: Tucson, 1893. 66 p. 8°. 

• Phoenix, 1897. 57 p. S" 



140 PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ABIZONA. 

School laws — Continued. 

1901. Phoenix, 1901. 75 p. 

Amendments. Phoenix, 1903. 11 p. 8*. 

1905. Phoenix, 1905. 80 p. 8°. 

1907. Phoenix, 1907. 83 p. 8°. 

1912. [Phoenix, 1912.] 118 and [11] p. 8". 

1913. [Phoenix, 1913.] 147 and xii p. 8". 

State Land Commission of Arizona. Report to the Governor of the State, June 
6, 1912, to December 1, 1914. [Tucson, 1915.] 

Reviews the subject of the public lands from the beginning and treats the subject 
with much detail. 



- Report, July 1, 1915— December 31, 1915. Phoenix [1916]. 

- Report, January 1, 1916— June 30, 1916. Phoenix [1916]. 

- Report, July 1, 1916— December 31, 1916. Phoenix [1917]. 



Superintendent of Public Instruction. Reports as follows: 
1875 and 1876, Safford. In one pamphlet. 
1877, 1878, 1879, 1880. Issued but not seen. 
1881 and 1882, Sherman. 

1883 and 1884, September 1 to August 31, Horton. 
1885 and 1886, July 1 to June 30, Long. 
1887 and 1888, Strauss. If a report was issued for this period it has not 

been seen. 
1889 :ind 1890, Cheyney. 
1891 and 1892, Cheyney. No report seen. 
1893 and 1894, Netherton. 
1895 and 1896, Dalton. 
1897 and 1898, Shewman, 
1899 and 1900, Long. 
1901 and 1902, Layton. 
1903 and 1904, Layton. 
1905 and 1906, Long. 
1907 and 1908, Long. 
1909 and 1910, Moore. No report seen. 

1911 and 1912, Moore. Ms. report with a summary of statistics for 
1910-11 and 1911=12. 

1912 and 1913, Case. Ms. statistics for 1911-12 and 1912-13. 

1913 and 1914, Case. Printed report. 
1915 and 1916, Case. Printed report. 

Superintendent's Office, Report on examination of, by E. J. Trippel and O. H. 

Plunkett. In H. J., special session, 1912, p. 168-174. 
Supreme Court of Arizona. Reports, vol. 14, 1914. 
Treasurer. Reports of State Treasurer to date. 
Tucson Public Schools. Report for the year 1881. 1st Tucson, 1882. 

1882-83. 2d. Tucson, 1883. 

1887-88. Next published. Tucson, 1888. 

1893-94. Next published. Tucson, 1894. 

1896-97. 1897. 

No other report seen. Report for 1893-94 contains brief historical slietch of 
public schools of Arizona, p. 25-30, and of the Tucson public schools, p. 30-32. 

United States. Bureau of Education. Annual Reports of the Commissioner 
of Education, 1870-1877. 

Contain summaries of the educational situation in the Territory as furnished to 
the Bureau by Governor Safford. 



BIBLIOGKAPHY. 141 

2. SECOND AKY MATERIALS. 

Buehman, Estelle M. Old Tucson. 1911. 

Ellingson, Jennie. The growth of the Arizona public school system to the 
year 1876. In Arizona Journal of Education, 1 : 42-47, June. 1910. 

A compilation not an original contribution except when the journal of one of 
the early teachers is quoted. 
McClintock, James H. Arizona, prehistoric. Aboriginal — pioneer— modern. 
3 V. Chicago, 1916. 

Some materials in vol. 2 on churches and schools. Much on the pioneers. 
McCrea, Samuel Pressly. Establishment of the Arizona school system. In 
Superintendent's Report for 1907 and 1908, p. 72-141. 

A detailed and exhaustive study of the public schools down to 1890. Treats the 
subject with accuracy, but has little attractiveness of presentation. The basis 
throughout of the present study. 



No. 


39 


No. 


40. 


No. 


41. 


No. 


42. 


No. 


43. 


No. 


44. 


No. 


45. 


No. 


46. 


No. 


47. 


No. 


48. 


No. 


49. 



No. 50. 




Nt).-51. 
No. 55. 




i2a 
to 



BTJLLETIN OF THE BUREAU OP EDUCATION. 

[Continued from page 2 of cover. J 

Teaching English to aliens. A bibliography. Winthrop Talbot. 

Monthly record of current educational publications, September, 1917. 

Library books for hisjji schools, ^ Martha Wilson. 

Jlonthly record of current educational publications, October, 1917. 

Educational directory, 1917-18. 

Educational conditions in Arizona. 

Summer sessions in city schools. W. S. Deffenbaugh. 

The public school system of San Francisco, Cal. 

The preparation and the preservation of vegetables. Henrietta W. 

Galvin and CaiTie A. Lyford. ;^ 
Monthly record of current educational publications, November, 1917. 
Music in secondary schools. A report of the Commission on Secondary 

Education. Will Earhart and Osborne McConathy. 
Physical education in secondary schools. A report of the Commission 

on Secondai-y Education. 
Moral values in secondary education. A report of the Commission on 
"Second Education. Henry Neumann. - 

inthlx record of current educational publications, December, 1917. 

e conifers of theTiorthern Rockies. J. E. Kirkwood. 
Training in courtesy. Margaret S. McNaught. ■ 
Statistics of State universities and State colleges, 1917, 

1918. 

Monthly record of current educational publications, January, 1918. 
The publications of the United States Government. W. I. Swanton. 
Agricult^ural instruction- iia'tlie high schools of six eastern States. 0. 

H. Lane. 

>nthly record of current educational publications, February, 1918. 
rk af the Bureau of Eiducation; for the natives of Alaska, 191&-17. 
he curriculum of the woman's college. Mabel L. Robinson. 
The bureau of extension of the University of North Carolina. Louis 

R. Wilson and Lester A. Williams. ' 
Monthly record of current educational publications, March, 1918, 
Union list of mathematical periodicals. David E. Shaith.^ 
Public-school classes for crippled children. Edith R. Solenbei-ger. 
A community center— what it is and how to organize it. Henry E. 

Jackson. - 

Monthly record of current educational publications, April, 1918. ^ , 
The land grant of 1862, and the land-grant colleges. Benj. F.' Andrews. 
Monthly record of current educational publications, May, 1918. 
Educational survey of Elyrla, Ohio. 
Facilidades Ofrecidas a Los Estudiantes Extranjeros. 
History of public school education in Arizona. Stephen B. Weeks, 
Americanization as a war xneasui'e. 

Vocational guidance in secondary education. A report of the Com- 
mission on Secondary Education, 
Monthly record of current educational publications, June, 1918. 
Instruction in journalism in institutions of higher education. James 

M. Lee. 
Mouthy record of current educational publications — Index, February, 

1917-January, 1918. 
State laws relating to education enacted in 1915, 1916, and 1917. Wm. 

R. Hood. 
V«cational guidance and the public schools. W. Carson, Ryan, jr. 



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